Flagship
by Krivoklatsko
Summary: Huntsmen come in pairs. Standalone oneshot shipping. Taking requests.
1. Arkos

Fresh air beat fresh juice. Jaune dragged Pyrrha past the walls for what a soul really needs. Atlas had regular patrols along the outskirts and eyes in the sky. Safety wasn't a concern, these days; Sanity was a concern.

Pyrrha kept her eyes low. She walked with her off-hand gripping the one she'd struck Jaune with. She felt the pain through that whole side of her body. He was speaking to her, and his every word danced on her skin and ached inside of her.

"I'll just assume you're apologizing and forgive you. No harm, no foul. I mean, you totally could have killed me there, but you also gave me my aura, which saved me, which is how I survived, so it really evens out."

At some point Jaune realized his mouth was running, and he ran it over the cotton candy before it ran him over a cliff. His eyes darted nervously to Pyrrha. She kept her head low. Tears dripped on the seashore.

She looked away from him, to the sight of Vale high on the cliffs, to the Schnee company freighters as mighty as the ocean itself, to the vast and uncaring sky filled with a universe that was scooting her along like dust- like garbage.

"I don't think this walk is helping," she sniffled.

She stooped to the ground and covered her face. Sand shifted as her heels splayed, and she sat on the beach to sniffle. Farther up on land, two soldiers stopped to watch. Jaune ignored them.

"Look, Pyrrha, I know-"

"-Why are you still talking to me?"

The question was not a dismissal. She had sobbed it. She felt unworthy, and somehow Jaune was still following her around like a lost puppy. She saw in his eyes that he didn't have an answer. His one mystical quality was perseverance. Cardin had called it stupidity, but if it was, it was the kind that went hand-in-hand with bravery.

"Because you're my teammate," he lied.

She laughed without joy. All motions had lost their luster in the context of her imminent death. She had decided long ago to be a good person, and she was learning that there was no end to the sacrifices demanded of her. She had to make a choice: and all of her options would end her identity.

She felt Jaune's hand on hers. It was a repeat of the gesture that had made her gasp hours ago. Now, she only stared at it. She had ruined any chance at requiting that secret wish.

"You're a liar," she sniffled.

"I who'sawhatnow?"

"You're lying. You wouldn't do this for Ren or Nora," she hoped.

"But Ren and Nora have Ren and Nora. Look, the point is-"

"The point is that you're still trying to help me, Jaune. I want you to answer this. This is all that matters to me right now. Why are you still here?"

And for once, she wanted the answer to be that she was special. She saw again that he didn't have an answer.

"Confidence," he admitted.

Now it was Pyrrha's turn to be confused.

"Jaune... Confidence?"

"Yeah," he blushed.

"No," she corrected, "Jaune, you are brave, but confidence is not what makes you get up in the morning."

"I know. What I mean is... I'm faking it."

Pyrrha laughed before he could explain.

"Jaune, you have to stop taking your father's advice. It's ridiculous."

"I didn't learn it from him," Jaune mumbled.

"Then who-?" and she realized as she asked. She remembered the night on the rooftop when she gave him her most powerful secret.

"One of the laws of combat is: When both combatants think they are about to lose, they are both correct. Never think negatively! And never let your opponent think you're thinking negatively. That might embolden them."

Jaune had scratched his head and surmised, "So... Fake it 'till you make it?"

She had sighed then. She sighed now.

"I learned it from you," Jaune nodded, "and let's be honest. You aren't confident right now. You haven't been for a long time. I'm sorry it took me so long to notice."

"Don't be."

She sniffed, then sobbed, "you're the only one who's noticed."

He let her cry. The soldiers on land grew bored and carried on with their patrol. The solitude emboldened Jaune in earnest.

"Pyrrha."

He held her hand up. It tingled through her arm to her heart, and the whole of those felt like a waking limb. She met his eyes.

"The truth is..." he matched his gaze to her.

She was witnessing the dumb bravery that had she envied in him.

"I want to be there for you. I want to be for you what you have been for me this semester. And by that, I mean that you are the person who has believed in me no matter what. You have been... Everything, to me. And I want you to know that I'm here to support you no matter what you're going through, no matter what you think you've done or have to do. Pyrrha, I will-"

She kissed him. Her lunge knocked him onto his back, and her tongue sought his with a passion she had never shared. Her body wrapped around his, and she shivered her tears free as their lips parted.

Their eyes stayed together, hers plaintive, his wide with surprise.

"Wait," Jaune realized, "Do you like me?"

Pyrrha nodded.

"Like, _like me_ , like me?"

She nodded.

Jaune slapped his head.

"I am such a hopeless idiot," he sighed.

Through tears, she smiled back.

"We both are, Jaune. We both are."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading. I'm taking requests. Pick two characters and I will ship them. You want a specific situation? I'll do it. I'll update regardless.**


	2. Under the Schnee

**Shoutout to RaXieF, who requested this ship. I'd like to clarify that, when you make a request, you should specify the nature of the ship. Friend is a ship. Romance is a ship. Angst is a ship. Rivalry is a ship. Otherwise, I'll choose.**

* * *

Neptune had mastered suavery. He could strut, swashbuckle, model, and look pretty all day. He could pull off blue hair. Then he was stricken with a schnee. And for the first time in his life, he knew that he had to step up his game. He was outclassed in all possible ways.

Weiss sat across from him at a table he'd paid for. She was examining her nails on one hand. He glanced away, searching for inspiration, and missed that she had glanced to him. He looked back, and saw her staring at her nails. He knew he had to try.

"Uh. So..."

But her scroll vibrated, and she turned away to check it. She looked upset. She snapped it shut and flicked her hair, and resumed examining her nails.

"You don't have to be cool all the time," Jaune had said.

"But you do have to be honest," was the implication.

Neptune swallowed. He was in public, in a restaurant he couldn't afford, with a girl who could buy his whole family's net worth. Despite this, he chose to be brave, as the great man Jaune Arc had done. He lowered his armor. He dropped his cool, and let the fear consume him. He leaned forward over the table, his heart beating at his ribcage as if trying to escape rising lava. As he leaned, Weiss' eyes snapped up to him, suspicious.

"I'm super nervous," he squeaked.

The moment of truth had come. Either this would work, or he would learn from it. At worst, Sun would laugh for days about his failure, and he would cry forever about the girl who got away. That was the source of his worry, the bane of his cool: The imperative that he attract this one, specific girl.

Weiss hadn't reacted, beyond freezing and looking like he'd just kissed her out of turn. She looked away from the table as if seeking a waiter, then checked her other shoulder, then leaned in suddenly to whisper, "Me too."

Neptune nodded.

"I'm not good with dates, and this is actually really formal which is intimidating because I know your manners are better than mine and I'll make a fool of myself if I eat in front of you and if we actually order anything here I'll go bankrupt so I really don't want to I just thought since you're used to this kind of thing I didn't want to disappoint you right off the bat because I..."

The words seized in his throat. Through great effort, he choked them out.

"I... Really, really like you. And the one thing I didn't want to do is lose your attention right off the bat."

She didn't answer. She was thinking.

"But that just happened," he realized.

She looked away, not to a waiter, but to her thoughts. In order, they were: Father won't hate this one, Winter will consider him a fixer-upper, he's honest, he doesn't have a bad reputation, I'll have to research his lineage since he's from Vacuo and might be part faunus, and... He isn't Jaune.

She had spent many hours staring into space about this subject. Ruby, Yang, and Weiss had all caught her doing it.

Ruby had asked, "Weiss, whatcha thinkin' about?"

Yang: "Is he cute?"

Blake had glanced up from her book and stared, wordlessly, as if counting the seconds to evaluate the depth of the thought. Then, after Weiss had noticed her noticing- after they had shared a long, standoffish stare- Blake released a slow and knowing smile.

She had spent a long time evaluating Neptune. Because, she realized, "I like you."

She blinked. _Was that out loud?_

"You do?!"

Neptune grinned like the moon, then corected himself.

"No, I mean yeah, who doesn't, right?"

 _Too aloof_ , he thought to himself. He added, "I mean, yeah, because I like you, too."

"I don't like formal dinners," Weiss admitted.

They stood and left as the waiter arrived.

That night, they watched the moon enter phase, and the debris field glow as it passed through the horizon. Then they descended the CCT Tower and watched it again.

They threw bread crumbs at fish in the emerald gardens, and giggled to no end when Neptune revealed how to coax the creatures to glow.

They laughed often and long into the night.

Then they spoke and traded childhoods. The experience was novel for both: To tell the truth, unabridged, and receive empathy without judgment. As the moon rose high above them, they felt a warm breeze wishing its last farewell to summer in Vale. The felt the weight of each other's attention. Lying on their backs on the grass, they had forgotten about every star in the sky or the vast and overwhelming darkness looming above them. They studied the lights in each other's eyes, and held the embers of their union tight as they closed.

The first kiss was formal and terse. They parted and evaluated it. Neptune swallowed, and reminded himself to lower his armor. The second kiss was looser, exploratory, threatening to undo all temperance in them. When Weiss pulled away, Neptune sighed with longing.

The third kiss was goodnight. Weiss entered her dorm room with crimson blushing all across her cheeks and her chest. Blake glanced up from a book, first to her clock, then to her friend. The accusatory grin was judge, jury, and executioner.

"Don't you dare say anything," Weiss threatened.

Blake Blaked. But Yang Yanged.

"Hey there lover-girl," she chimed.

"EWWWW, BOY-KISSER," Ruby shrieked.

Weiss flicked her hair.

"You'll do it too, someday. Grow up, Ruby," she ordered.

At Neptune's dorm, there was a sudden, deep silence. He had entered with his armor on, all coolness orbiting him and shining.

"Sup," was his introduction.

Sun and their rando roomies nodded. Sun was waiting for the night's evaluation. Neptune had to set the mood before his dude friend could react. They all waited. It was quiet. Then Neptune held out a fist, and Sun dapped it.


	3. Bumblebee

**A/N: User Bigtoenails** **and User** **XxAmberfallxX requested BlakexYang, so I've seen fit to do a double-whammy. This chapter is an original work. The next chapter is a repost of chapter 6 from my story "Ashes to Ashes." Both are Bumblebee. Also, if you like a ship that I've already done, feel free to request an encore.**

* * *

Weiss stormed out of the dorm with her hands raised and her face contorted in a growl. That left Blake and Yang sitting beside each other, feeling alone. Yang raised a finger and a point, which Blake interrupted.

"It's not fair!"

"Blake-"

"-It isn't! We agreed that everybody gets exactly thirteen centimeters of space on the shelf! It was Weiss' idea to begin with! I don't care how big her new textbooks are! It was her idea to limit the space, and it was her idea to take a stupid elective! I'm not getting rid of my books!"

Yang's only stake in the argument was that her friend was upset. She kept her voice soft. She offered suggestions. But in truth, she saw that the only way to make Blake smile was to raise the black flag and reclaim the two centimeters of land a Schnee had just stolen from the Faunus.

"You don't have to get rid of them," she pointed out.

"Where else can I put them? They can't go there, we agreed not to clutter the floor, and I've already used up the space under the bed."

"Maybe you have too many books," Yang didn't say.

A lot of other bad ideas came to mind, and she spent a minute not saying them.

"What do you think we should do, Blake?"

Blake curled her knees to her chin and wrapped her legs in a hug. She buried her face. It was then, seeing her pain in facing the inevitable, that Yang found her solution. She walked to the bookshelf. She did not let herself think of anything but her friendship. She knew no veteran huntsman who valued knowledge over teamwork. She grabbed a book from her segment. After a second thought, she grabbed every book from her segment and carried them to the window. Blake, hearing it open, lifted her head.

She saw Yang standing at the sill, empty-handed. She saw the empty space on the bookshelf. She looked back to the window.

"Think I found some space," Yang beamed.

Blake gaped. She had seen the extremity of hate many times. The extremities of friendship gave her an unfamiliar and stunning feeling. It was like the waking of a limb, or the sudden expansion of consciousness. The soft touch of Yang's attention had an intensity on par with pain. She had felt anger and tension a moment before. The suddenness with which it left her prompted a tear. She looked at Yang. She gaped. She croaked.

"No, no, no," Yang stopped her.

"You put your books away, and then I'll tell you how you can thank me."

Yang crossed her arms to wait against the window sill. In her smile was suddenly the charming look of a schemer. Blake had learned to associate that look with trouble, but she had also made a conscious choice to trust Yang. It was not a choice she was ready to admit aloud, but she had practiced turning her back and not suspecting. She practiced it now.

Yang's attention felt like static between her shoulder blades. As she lifted each book into place, she would pause to listen behind her. She could hear Yang's breathing change, shallower and faster. She finished, and turned to face her friend with a look she couldn't have described herself. Her hands were folded in each other, but she moved them to say, "I'm really grateful."

"Good," Yang smiled.

"Now read to me."

Blake lost all feeling but fear. Her eyes darted to the door, but Yang beat her there. She considered jumping out the window. Yang tackled her onto the bed.

"No escaping! I gave you a place to put your books! Now you gotta read one to me!"

"Why?"

She made the question sound innocent, then tried to break the grapple and escape. Yang stole her shoe and tossed it across the room.

"Because I... Because!"

"Not... Good... Enough..." Blake strained. Yang had an arm wrapped around her torso, but she was slowly snaking through that grip. She was almost free. She only had to- Yang tickled her side. Instinct curled her into a ball, and all of her focus directed at ending the assault. That moment of weakness was all it took. Yang hefted her up like a sack of potatoes and dumped her back on the bed.

She grabbed a book at random from underneath and set it into Blake's lap.

"Now read," she ordered, "and no more excuses."

Blake panting, did not look to the window or the door. She bit her lip, trying to hide a smile.

"Okay," she acknowledge, "but you cheated."

Yang, grinning in victory, stretched out on the bed and folded her arms behind her bed.

"Maybe I was just playing a different game," she chided.

The exertion finally caught up with Blake as a blush. She laughed. She felt... Good. Then she looked into her lap and froze.

"Nope. No chickening out," Yang instructed.

"But-"

"-I don't care. I just threw all my textbooks out the window, and I beat you. You read to me."

"Yang, this-"

"-Do it or I'll tickle you again."

She caught (and was caught by surprise when she saw) Blake blushing. She swallowed, her face red like roses. She opened the book with shaking hands. But Yang sat up to stop her. She was looking for a good time, and Blake looked like she was having anything but.

"You okay?"

Blake scooted the book under her covers.

"Yeah. I just... I don't... Read."

Yang tilted her head as if to say, "Check yourself, Blake."

Instead she said, "Then just talk to me."

"Okay," she said, and proceeded not to.

Yang put a hand on her back. It felt like lightning scattered over her skin from the contact.

"I want _you_ to do the talking, Blake."

"I'm just not really... You know."

"I know," Yang smiled.

"Thanks. For understanding, I mean," Blake sighed, "I just get so anxious, and it makes it hard for me to-"

"I meant about this," Yang corrected.

She pulled the book out from under the covers and set it on Blake's lap. She leaned in close to whisper. She could see the blush spreading down Blake's blouse, across her heaving chest. She whispered as low as she could, her lips tickling Blake's sensitive, feline ears.

"I already read it."

And that was her move. The cards were basically on the table. If this was poker, she might as well have shouted out her hand.

Blake was too stunned to react. The blood beating in her chest and her cheeks was commanding her reactions now, and she turned from quiet to mute. She swallowed heavily, and her throat bobbed slowly. All she could do was stare at Yang, her lips parted.

This, of course, posed a problem for Yang. She was waiting for a signal. So she leaned in closer. Her shoulders squared. She held Blake's hands in hers. She closened. Their hearts hastened. Blake's eyes hung half open, and her head tilted away as if to say no. But the hairs on her neck were reaching for Yang's breath. The long, quiet moan was consent, and her lips made a soft, wet, contact just above her collar bone. She left another soft mark on her throat, and a third just under her chin, and a keycard swiped at the door.

Weiss entered with an apology spilling over her tongue.

"Okay! Fine! I've decided that I can put one of my books in my locker. It means I have to walk an extra ten minutes _every day_ , but if this really matters so much to you, then you can make it up to me by-"

She turned to Blake's bed, where she found a startled, disheveled Yang with spittle glistening on her lips She saw the cleared space on the shelf, and the open window. She turned on her heel to find Blake in the bathroom, nonchalantly brushing her hair with Ruby's brush. Blake noticed the mistake and quickly corrected. Yang slurped her lips clean.

"We were just-"

"Whatever," Schnee snapped. She held a hand up to each of them.

"Ruby will be back in an hour, and I won't be back before then."

She did not make eye contact as she left.


	4. Ashes to Ashes

**This is Chapter 6 of my story Ashes to Ashes. This is a friendship bumblebee scene, and is part two of the double-whammy for User Bigtoenails and User XxAmberfallxX. Allow me to plug for a moment. Ashes to Ashes is about a Scroll that gets recovered by Doctor Oobleck from Mountain Glenn. On it is an archive of recorded footage from the events at Mountain Glenn. It serves as both closure for the survivors and as a warning of a coming threat. Enjoy and Review.**

* * *

Blake Belladonna had a favor to return. The problem was finding Yang. She wasn't at the dorm, the Vytal Festival, or with JNPR, or punching anything expensive. It was only by a stroke of luck that she found Yang. Wind gusted the courtyard, and Blake followed the smell of her skin, the soft musk of her sweat, her favorite soap. Yang was hiding in the chapel. Students were aware of the building, but the Great War had left structures like these in disrepair.

Blake stopped in the entryway. Yang was sitting on the altar, facing a long dead symbol hanging on the back wall.

"I don't think you're supposed to sit up there," Blake whispered.

Yang hopped down and walked to a pew, where Blake joined her. They both sat, but Yang didn't talk.

Blake kept her voice low.

"I didn't think I'd find you here."

"I wanted to be alone," Yang hummed back.

"Oh."

Blake hefted the book from her lap to her arm.

"But you can stay," Yang corrected.

"Thanks," Blake smiled.

"What's it about?"

Yang nodded to the book.

"Oh. A Faunus warrior loses his way home during an eclipse. He's lost in the woods and Grimm beset him on all sides, but he remembers the things that matter to him about home, and he follows those feelings to a new place where he can build a new home. When I lost my parents, I used to read it to comfort myself."

Her eyes and hand rested on the cover, but her fingers seemed to be reaching through it, to something the book could never really give her.

Yang placed a hand on Blake's. She offered it with a mellow smile.

"What happened to them?"

Blake returned that mellow smile, but let it quaver while she spoke.

"My parents moved us half-way across the continent to work at one of the largest mines the Schnee company owned. The wages were better. Mom said we were going to get our own house in Atlas. Not an apartment. Then the council said Faunus can't own property inside the city. They made rules about Faunus owning businesses, or riding the bus... Even carrying weapons wasn't allowed."

"What?!"

Yang's shout echoed in the chapel. Blake nodded.

"So the protests started. The workers went on strike, and they didn't go back until they had enough rights to get by."

"Did it work? Sorry."

Yang held her hands up in surrender.

"Didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, it's fine. I don't know all the details. Everyone went back to work one day. They were a lot happier. Mom told me everything was going to get better, just like she'd said before. Then they went down into the mines, and never came out. There was a big accident."

Blake ended the story there. She seemed weary. Yang looked angry.

"Was it... Was it an _accident,_ accident?"

"I've heard a lot of theories," Blake admitted, "but no one really knows, maybe not even the Schnee family."

Blake collapsed her posture, her elbows digging into her knees and face into her hands. Yang's mouth moved, but she couldn't find words. She kept thinking of what to say, and stopping herself. She wrapped her arms around Blake, and let the hug say everything. They were quiet for a long while, and Blake wrapped her arm around her friend's.

"I came here to comfort _you_ ," Blake mumbled.

"I'm okay," Yang whispered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. We can go back to the room. Will you... Will you read your book to me?"

The hesitation had brought a blush to Yang's cheeks. When she looked up from her hug, she saw that the same was true of her friend. Blake gulped.

"I've never read out loud before," she admitted.

Yang laughed.

"Don't worry. I can-"

"But I'll do it," Blake asserted.

She looked as if she had summoned every ounce of her courage.

So when they reached the room, it was even funnier to see her reluctance. Yang stood and watched her with a growing amusement. First, Blake set her books on the bed. Then she changed from uniform to her pajamas. Then she moved the book to her dresser while she straightened her bed.

"It's more comfortable to sit on it that way," she explained.

So Yang sat, and continued watching, her smile turning to giggling as Blake adjusted the light level.

"It's kind of cold in here," she noted, "so I'll just go change the-"

"Blake."

Yang patted the bed beside her.

Blake nodded. She inched her way to the bed, and sat. Yang placed the book in her lap. Blake looked at it, then to Yang. Yang had leaned in close to her, an arm around her shoulder, and a sharp smirk piercing her anxiety.

"You did promise," Yang smiled.

Blake nodded. Her gaze fell to the book. Her body was tense and alert, like she was gripping a box full of spiders. Yang giggled.

"I used to have stage fright, too. My dad said it helps if you close your eyes and just pretend no one's watching."

"I can't read with my eyes closed."

"Oh. Yeah, good point," Yang realized.

They laughed together. Blake opened the book. And though she had feared it, the moment of her first words came and passed without pain. The act was just comfortable time spent with her good friend.


	5. BlackSun

**User XxAmberFallxX requested Blacksun. Next up is Renora, so put your seatbelt on, son.**

* * *

"I enjoyed the dance," Blake smiled.

They were her first words of the day. Speaking was an exercise to warm up. She was always strangled by overlapping thoughts. Sometimes she would open her mouth, realize suddenly how the conversation would play out, and close her mouth; Because why bother when everyone knows what's going to be said?

Company was nothing more than being with those you care about. She had learned, from the anger of her peers, that no one else shared that view. So she was saying a lot of unnecessary things lately.

"I... enjoyed going to the dance... _With you_ ," she said.

The mirror did not answer. The frustration made her sigh. It had already taken her twenty minutes to straighten her bow, just to muster the courage to tell a mirror how she felt. And then she remembered Sun didn't like the bow. She tore it off.

"I've never done this before," she admitted, "or, well, I have."

 _No, idiot, don't tell him about your psycho ex._

"I've never done this before," she repeated.

 _Don't lie, either._

"I'm scared of getting hurt," she admitted.

She did not imagine Sun's face as she said it. She said it to the beautiful girl in the mirror and her frustrated confusion. She said it to the thought of her mother. But she had promised not to let fear stop her.

"I'm scared of getting hurt, but I'm going to trust you."

 _He will think you're a crazy person if you say that._

"I think we should-"

"-Conversations usually start with 'hi.'"

"Shut up, Weiss!"

"Excuse me for trying to help," Schnee grumbled.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine on your own," she added.

Blake slammed the bathroom door. She buried her face in her hands and tried to focus. Her friends voices came through the door as mumbles.

"Weiss!"

" _What_? Don't look at me like that, Yang! Am I the only one who remembers last time? I don't even know why that poor boy is coming back."

"Oh yeah? Well I don't even know why people like you at all, Weiss!"

"Because I'm Chesty, Blonde, and laugh no matter what a guy says. Oh wait, that's you!"

"Hey!"

"People like me because I'm smart, rich, and pretty, Yang. Cool people like me."

"Well-"

Blake opened the door, stepped into the room, and stared them all down with her infectious silence. Their hands had raised with their voices. They lowered them with their voices. Blake sighed herself free of the engagement.

"I'll call him and tell him not to come," she mumbled.

Yang tilted her head to Weiss with a deep frown.

"Wait," Weiss suggested.

"You're right."

"But I didn't mean that you should-"

"Guys, I enjoyed the dance. I really did. But... I don't think... I don't think dating is for me."

Yang only glared at Weiss, her displeasure intensifying.

"Well then I made these cards for nothing!" Weiss shouted.

"What?" everyone said in unison.

Weiss slipped them from concealment under her covers.

"I made you some speech cards, so if you run out of things to say- Nevermind. If you' aren't even _going_ on the date, then-"

"-I'm not."

"Fine," Weiss snapped, as if this wasn't her fault.

Then the door knocked.

 _Oh no_ , Blake realized.

Weiss jumped to her feet.

"Yang, Quick, help me move the desk."

"What? Why?"

"So I can stand behind the door and hold the cards up for her, duh!"

They scrambled, and Ruby sat up in bed to see Blake smoothing the fabric of her dress.

"Ok, ready," Weiss whispered. She held up the first notecard, which read, "Hi."

Blake breathed, readied herself, and said, "Hi," to the door.

"No, idiot!"

Blake opened the door.

"Hi," she didn't say. She saw his abs. She swallowed. She smiled. Sun had lost his tongue as well. He smiled back. He braced himself against the door, hiding that he'd just lost his balance.

"Hey," was all he could manage, but to Blake it was the word of a god.

"Hey," she cooed back.

Weiss flipped to the next card. Blake glanced at it and read aloud, "It's nice to see you today."

Sun nodded, "Yeah."

He looked into the room, and waved at Yang and Ruby.

"Hey, aren't there three of you guys?"

Weiss flipped through the cards frantically and covered the word "I" with her finger.

Blake read, "Weiss would like... To... Wanted to go to the park."

"Again?"

"What?"

"Oh, I mean, she and Neptune went last night. I guess she had a lot of fun the first time."

"Oh. Uh... Yeah," Blake nodded.

"Hey, so I'm really glad you wanted a third date," Sun smiled, "because I was really worried after last time. It was, you know, kinda short."

"Oh," Blake blushed.

"Sorry."

"No! No," he held up his hands, "No, no, no, I mean, I get it. Believe me, I get it. I just... I just wanted to say I'm really happy to... You know, be here... With you."

"Aww," Yang smiled.

Blake turned and hissed, "Shh."

She looked for her next card.

She saw Weiss staring at her own cards, realizing with a wide-eyed horror what was wrong. The next card read, "Why did your parents name you Neptune?"

" _Sorry_ ," Weiss mouthed.

Blake panicked. In that moment, she knew true fear.

"Uh..." She said.

Her mind raced for words.

 _The. It. Revolution._

"I..."

She thought back to her practice in the mirror. It was her only backup. She steadied her breathing, calmed her mind, and let her training take over.

"I like you," she said.

 _I what? Oh no._

She turned, slamming the door and bracing it with her back. Her teammates leaped to their feet, Weiss shouting, "Stop her! She's going for the window again!"


	6. RubyxJaune

**A/N: I went looking for a story tha thad samples of every ship, and I didn't find one. So I created Flagship. Users RaXief and Zaegan requested RubyxJaune, and I don't agree with that ship. So I took longer because I wanted to get it right. I hope this works. Enjoy and review.**

* * *

"I'm glad I met you, Ruby," Jaune started.

"Well thank you very much, Jaune," she nodded.

They set off on their walk.

"I'm glad I had free time today, too," Jaune added.

"Yeah, I couldn't take another lecture from Professor Port today, eugh," Ruby agreed.

The conversation fell short there. They walked in a complete silence that acknowledged the gap in their time together. It had been a whole semester since they'd had time like this. There was also the slight worry, deeper than usual, in Jaune's frown.

"Okay, tell me what's wrong," Ruby sighed.

"Ren and Nora are fighting." Jaune blurted.

She stopped.

"Wait, what? But they like each other!"

"Nora asked Ren if she was getting fat."

"Oh no," Ruby understood.

"Yeah."

"Shouldn't you be there to help them?"

"I was," Jaune sighed, "But I don't think I'm much of a leader. Pyrrha told me to leave and let her handle it."

He sat on the nearest bench. Ruby stood beside him.

"If it's any consolation, my big sister handled a fight between Weiss and Blake."

"It isn't," he sighed.

"Sorry."

"You tried. I like that about you."

"Yeah. Well, you try a lot, too, Jaune. I mean, even getting all beat up about this is proof that you care about your people. It means you're a good leader."

"Does it?"

Ruby sat with him and nodded.

"Yup."

"But-"

"Nope. Tomorrow, this is all going to be blown over. Nobody is going to remember a year from now that they had this argument. "

"Yeah, I guess."

"And that's because people like you and me are working tirelessly to resolve it."

"You mean Yang and Pyrrha," Jaune noted.

"Well, yeah, them too."

Ruby scratched her head.

"I'm glad I met you, Jaune," she admitted.

They smiled together.

"You're really easy to talk to," she admitted.

"You too, Ruby."

"It's nice to have someone else who I can talk to about, you know, leader stuff."

"Yeah. You always keep me in good spirits," he admitted.

They were contented, and thus quiet, for another long moment. The campus was cold and quiet, with tides of fallen leaves rolling across the ground as the sea breeze came in. Jaune shivered in his t-shirt. Ruby hugged her sweater-hood tight, and thought of something warmer.

"Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever think about dating?"

"No," Jaune lied. He swallowed.

Ruby turned on him, surprised.

"Never?"

He hugged himself tighter and shied, "Uh... Sometimes? I don't think there's anybody who _does_ want to date me though. And, you know, I've got to study and be a leader all the time."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Ruby admitted.

She looked down to her feet.

"It's just," she thought aloud, "I got accepted two years early, so I'm younger than everyone. You seem so... Mature to me. And I'm worried that anybody who I would want to date," she looked at him, then back to the ground when he met her eyes, "wouldn't want to date me for it."

Jaune, for once, was not completely out of his element. His eyes lit up.

"My oldest sister had this problem! Or, I mean," he waved down Ruby's worried expression, "she thought she did. She's dating a guy who's five years older than her now."

Ruby gave him her full attention. Her eyes were intensely wide. Her smile was breaching with excitement.

"How did she make him like her?"

"Well, she said they were in a park, and she asked him what his greatest dream was. And then she kissed him when he wasn't expecting it."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," Jaune nodded.

"What was his greatest dream?"

"I don't know. She kissed him."

"Huh."

"Yeah," Jaune nodded, "but I don't think it works for everybody."

His gaze lingered far in the distance, and he rubbed his cheek.

Ruby looked at her feet. Her heart was beating out of her chest. Her face was red like roses. She clutched her hood closer to hide it.

"H-hey, Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"Whats... What's _your_ greatest dream?"

Jaune swallowed. He looked over his shoulder, as if his seven nosy sisters were spying on him.

"W-w-w-why, why- uh, why do you ask?"

She looked at him, then down under his attention.

"Mine is to be a Huntress," she mumbled.

She forced her chin up, in honor of her mother, and repeated it with strength.

"I want to be a Huntress. I want to be a Hero and slay Grimm, and make all the happy endings in all the fairy tales a reality."

Jaune, seeing her vision before them, had a look of wonder.

"Wow," he said.

He looked back to her, and saw a rose clutched in her hand.

"Where'd you get that?"

"I always carry one," she smiled, "for my mother."

"Oh."

He shied away from what he assumed was a painful memory. But he saw the wistful bliss in her smile, and knew he was safe to ask.

"What was she like?"

"Nope," Ruby grinned, "it's your turn."

"My turn?"

"What's your greatest dream?"

She smiled. Jaune looked into the future, visualizing it. Her body tensed to pounce.

"Oh. Well my greatest dream is-"

She placed the flower on his chest, and her lips on his.


	7. Renora

**This is your Captain speaking. User XxAmberfallxX has requested RenxNora, so we are asking our passengers to return their tray tables to the upright position and to securely fasten their seatbelts.**

* * *

Lie Ren sat at his dorm room desk and lifted his fork and knife. He stared at his plate for a very long time, ignoring Nora, or just focusing very hard. She scooted closer, closer, closer to his attention, and found it narrowing her out and intensifying the closer she got, until he finally snapped out of it and looked at her.

"I can't eat this," he decided.

"WHAT?!"

Hours of preparation and months of emotional investment had bound tight into this package. The tension had just snapped, and she lashed out at the nearest thing.

"Listen to me, Ren," she whispered, "because these could be the last words you ever hear. I spent two weeks learning how to make pancakes that aren't round, and another two hours making them look the way I want, so you better-"

"-Didn't you use a pancake mold?"

"I was going to, but it broke," she growled.

Pyrrha paused her tooth brushing and leaned out of the bathroom.

"You broke my heart-shaped pancake mold?"

"Nora," Ren scolded, "you have to take better care of other people's things."

"That's not the point! And how did you know about the mold, anyway? This was supposed to be a surprise!"

Ren tried very hard not to out Jaune. He only glanced at his friend, but that was enough to convict him. Nora rounded. Jaune looked to Pyrrha for help. She slammed the bathroom door. Jaune lifted his comic higher to hide. Nora growled again.

"Alright, fine, don't eat the pancakes," she grumbled. But Ren stopped her hand as she reached for the plate.

"No. I like them. I want to keep them."

"What?" she strained.

Anger transmuted to confusion on her features.

"I don't want to eat them... because they're too pretty," Ren explained.

"Ren, that's ridic-"

"-Like you," he finished.

Pyrrha leaned out again, eyebrows high in anticipation. Jaune lowered his comic to his nose. Nora turned... Pinker. She was frozen, her mouth open, confusion turning to joy on her features.

"Wha- I- I mean, Ren, I..." she struggled to breathe.

Ren lifted her limp hand and kissed it.

"Art is the nutrition of the soul. Thank you for breakfast, Nora," he hummed.

Nora nodded. Her mouth tried to do things, but her tongue wasn't working. She made a sound.

"Hmm?"

"Uhh, afdghhh..."

She composed herself enough to say, "So... We... You and me... Ren and Nora?"

"I am Ren, and you are Nora," he confirmed.

"And we're together?"

"Like usual," he nodded.

"But..." And this was the single riskiest question she had ever asked, "Are we... _Together_ , together?"

Jaune and Pyrrha shared an excited glance. Nora looked like a blushing fiance with Ren sitting at hip-level.

"What? Don't be silly," he chided.

"Ren!" Jaune threw his comic.

"Rude!" Pyrrha started a crossfire with a roll of toilet paper.

"I hate you, Lie Ren!" Nora shouted.

"You are the worst, and I mean the most bad of all the things! I should smash you up into tiny bits and chew you up and spit you out into the wild like some kind of mean animal! I'd rather date a Beowulf! You are just the most-"

"But I liked your pancakes!" he defended.

"But you don't like ME!" she yelled.

"Of course I like you, Nora," Ren monotoned, "but I'm far too busy with my education to have a relationship."

He was admiring his pancakes as he spoke. He did not see as Nora's rejection turned her to an imperious and spiteful ruler. Jaune shivered and hid behind his comic. Pyrrha's outrage dropped to a stupefied worry.

"We're putting it to a vote," Norra declared.

"What?" Ren objected.

"I vote yes," Nora announced.

Ren opened his mouth. Nora grabbed it and closed it.

"How about you, Pyrhha?" she asked sweetly.

Pyrrha stepped into the room with her arms crossed.

"You've been together for a long time, Ren. You've grown and healed together. You'll hurt Nora if you turn her down now, and there's no reason to do that. She just wants you to acknowledge her feelings for you, and your feelings for her. I vote yes," she nodded.

Ren imagined her pose on a cereal box. Then he glanced past her shoulder and saw exactly that. She turned away.

"Don't you agree, Jaune?"

Pyrrha asked it with an air of flippant innocence that everyone recognized as desperate hope.

Jaune made as if to shake his head no. He stopped when he saw Nora's hand dart out and grab a pencil. The sudden seizure of a pointy thing made him think _very carefully_ about his answer. Then she grabbed it by both ends, and Jaune began to understand. It was a slow, growing kind of understanding, like the stress she placed on the pencil, gradually intensifying until the instrument began to feather and tear and crunch- like a leg would under similar pressures.

"I vote yes," Jaune wisely nodded.  
"Yay," Nora squeaked.

"I suppose we should go on a date," Ren conceded.

Pyrrha patted his shoulder and smiled warmly.

"A first date can be very fun."

Nora grabbed Ren by his shoulders, swiveling his chair to face her.

"Ok, ok, ok, I want it to be a surprise, so don't tell me what's going to happen, but I've always wanted to have a guy sing to me while he rows me down a river of pink lotus petals that all have tiny paper hearts in them. And when we get to the end of the river, there's this beauuuuuuutiful lake that has waterfalls pouring into it. And while we're drifting in the center of it, he has me stand up, and he holds my arms out at my side with me, and there's dust in the waterfalls so we can close our eyes and feel it tingling with our auras until they merge. And then he kneels down and makes a bouquet-"

It was at this point that Pyrrha realized what nature of monstrosity she had just enabled. Jaune was listening intently, his face wracked with worry as he learned the impossible standard set for all men. Ren looked tired. He yawned as she finished, "And when it lands back in the water, the whole pack- pod? Pod. Whales travel in pods. So the water splashes and falls, but the dust in it trails away and sparkles in your eyes as you tell me that you want to be with me forever and ever and ever! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, I'm so happy!"

She ran out the door dancing. Ren did not move for a long time. Jaune found his feet and placed a hand on Ren to say, "Sorry, Buddy."

"No, it's okay," Ren sighed.

"I like her."


	8. The Other Bumblebee

**User RightHandOfPalpatine has requested BlakexJaune. This was difficult for me. I was tempted to make it purely friendship, but I tried my darndest, and I believe that I was able to plant the seed for romance in this scene while acknowledging the characters limits. Feedback would be greatly appreciated, and remember that you can always request new pairings or situations. I'm having a lot of fun with this, and I hope you are, too.**

* * *

Jaune Arc rested his head against the door, then used it to knock. No one answered. Of course not- He'd waited for them to leave. He hadn't wanted witnesses to his embarrassment. If he'd noticed he'd forgotten his keys, the omen could have spared him from the rest of the night. His dad would have said something about Grandpa never giving up, and killing Grimm with his bare hands, and pulling girls like a shoe shop on wheels. Jaune was starting to lose faith in these stories. Two things were quickly becoming obvious.

The first was that the path of his fathers could not be his own. The shoes didn't fit, the sword was dull, and the shield was heavy.

The second was that Weiss didn't like flash mobs, or him.

Jaune rested his back to the door, and slid to the floor. It was then that he saw Blake Belladonna. She had slipped from her room and shut the door silently. She was poised there, with a look of concern.

"Lock yourself out again?"

"Yeah," Jaune whimpered, "But this time... I locked myself out of Weiss' heart."

"Don't be so melodramatic," Blake sighed.

She tacked a smile onto that gesture and sat with him.

"My life is over," Jaune wailed.

Blake remembered a time that had been literally true of a comrade. She looked away from that memory to a kid who'd grown up inside the walls. She was expecting to feel disdain. In truth, she relaxed. Her shoulders spread, and tension dissipated.

"It's not so bad," Blake said. And she wasn't lying this time.

"I just thought... I mean what was the point of it all? I came here to be a Huntsman because... I mean, I wanted people to like me. But that wasn't the whole thing. I wanted to be likable. And I feel like I've failed. I haven't really-"

"-Do you like Weiss?"

Blake had been looking at the wall as she listened. Now, she she looked at him. Jaune stammered.

"I... Uh- I- I mean, Who doesn't?"

"Who does?" Blake countered.

"What?"

"Bear with me," she murmured, "and just imagine her name is Weiss Nikkos."

"O... Kay?"

"She isn't famous. You've never met her before. All you know about her is the way she's treated you."

Blake saw that she was right. Jaune had the sorrowful look of a man suddenly understanding a magician's trick.

"I... I guess not," he realized.

"What I liked... I mean, wow. Huh. I just never thought of it that way," he admitted.

Blake watched him. Jaune covered his mouth, then perched his head on his hand, then pointed at a thought.

"I thought of her as a goal. I thought, 'if I can get Weiss Schnee to like me, then I'll have done it.' I guess... But that's not what she is. She's a person. I mean, I _like_ her, too. I just... I don't know. You're right. Maybe I shouldn't be trying to date her. Maybe she just already knew that."

Blake nodded and smiled, "Glad I could help."

Jaune lit up with excitement.

"Hey, Blake, are you busy?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way to the library," she didn't say.

"Uh..." she tried.

She looked down the hallway. The books were calling to her. But she knew Yang would check up on her tomorrow, and she hadn't made her quota for talking to new people. She looked back to Jaune. He had an air, not of innocence, but of virtue. He was a good companion. Most importantly, she felt safe talking to him.

"I only ask," Jaune continued, "because I reserved seats at this really good sushi place."

Her mouth watered.

"And there's supposed to be some famous poet doing a reading tonight. I think it's called Ronin of Romance? It's a sequel. I dunno."

Her eyes bulged.

"Anyway, I already paid for it, and... Well... I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but... You make me feel better about myself. I kinda look up to you. You've got this mystique and calm, like you've got it all figured out."

Blake considered her options. She could go sit by herself in the library, scrounge for snacks, and let the world bother her. She could also spend her night treating her tongue to poetry of the stomach, her ears to the flattery of a fawning man, and her heart to the soothing sounds of a poet. She nodded, mouth hanging open.

"I get if you don't want to," Jaune mumbled.

"You wouldn't be the first to turn me down."

He was staring at the wall ahead, too afraid to hear. Blake knew that fear of rejection. For a moment, she felt pity. For another, she felt relief, for she had forgotten in this moment her own struggles. Then she felt gratitude.

She leaned over and placed a kiss on Jaune's cheek. Her lips burned like she'd kissed spice. Her cheeks flushed red, and she felt as if the whole of her body had emerged from warm blankets. She swallowed. Jaune was too stunned to interrupt her. So she mustered her courage and said, "Jaune, just for tonight, I think I would enjoy a date."


	9. Romeo

**User Zaegan requested RomanxNeo. I hope that Arkos and BumbleBY shippers will forgive me if I delay their stuff.**

* * *

Roman Torchwick had observed in his assistant three defining moods. The first was playful. He had hired her while she was in a playful mood. He had thought a cheery attitude would raise morale. There was a chance she could make the animals work harder.

The second mood, he'd titled "Unpredictable." He later realized it was agitation. She would break things, stomp, and yell in ways far more annoying than any voice.

He had learned to manage these moods. He learned that she preferred her payment in toys: supple, obedient, and sweet. He had learned that she was his most expensive employee.

"My dear," he'd once said to her, "your appetite grows the more I feed it. I'm starting to think I should try to tame you."

She'd made him regret saying it. But she'd never made him regret paying her so well. He often wondered who was taming whom.

Neopolitan caught him sitting at his desk in a mood she titled "pensive."

"You know what I like about money?"

He pointed her way. She nodded.

"I've already told you this," he remembered.

She nodded and smiled. He proceeded, unwrapping his legs on the desk and uprighting himself with a flourish. His cane twirled on his finger as he stood. She called this mood "Excited."

Roman tipped his hat with his cane, then twirled it into the floor by the window. He leaned on it there, and felt his chin for the sharp, smooth perfection that it was.

"Money replaces reputation," he announced.

His voice hooked her attention, dragging it back to the office from the bedroom.

She cocked her head. Last time, he'd said the smell was nice. He wagged a finger at her.

"Take a man like Lilac Lien. Despicable. A tyrant. In the modern age, no one would vote for him. And, like me, he was no friend of the faunus."

Neo soured on that note. Her arms crossed and her head tilted forward to aggression. Her foot tapped.

"I know, I know, but let me finish. Put my face on a Lien- Call 'em Torchwicks-" he pulled a bill from his jacket, his smiling face captioned with a large number- "And it lends a sudden air of dignity, tradition, and respectability."

Neo stepped to him and reached out a hand. He jerked it back.

"Trade me. How much is my mug worth?"

He posed beside the portrait. Neo rolled her eyes, landing them on the bookshelf, where she pretended to be distracted. Roman waited. He knew this was a game he would win. It was a matter of seconds before she licked her lips and playfully spun on a heel to face him. She blushed, then took a step forward.

"Patience is not your strong suit, Darling."

She looked down with her head, then up with her eyes, begging.

"And compassion is not mine," he added.

"You know what they used to call me? The Miser of Mistral."

She took another step. Her begging eyes narrowed, and her step undulated her body as she approached. Whatever quip Roman had prepared was gulped down.

"... And I... Have been known as the Vicar of Vacuo, because I don't take bribes. I give them."

Her next step pressed their bodies flush. She dragged her hand up his chest and out over his arm until the money was just in her reach.

Her off-hand slid under his jacket. And there lay the ruse. It was her off-hand that was accomplishing her goal. She slid a second note from the pocket she'd found. She winked as she pushed him against the wall.

He knew not to protest. She was admiring the bill. Any toy she looked at like that she'd hunt across Remnant to reclaim. All that was really important to Roman was that he'd given her something she liked. She admired the bill for another moment, and he admired her.

"When Cinder burns this city down, Lien are going up before the concrete. If there's any kind of rebuilding, I want it to be with a money I control. You like that one?"

He pointed into her hands. She nodded, thankful. He produced the rest of the stack from his pocket and set them in her hand. She understood, and her smile grew to a great anticipating hunger for what he'd bring her next.

And there was the ruse. His hand was not giving; it was taking hers. He spun her around into his embrace, her back against his chest. She was facing the window, but focused on his reflection in the glass. His lips grazed her cheek, and she exposed her neck for him.

"Take a look, ," he whispered.

Her eyes refocused, and she... Didn't gasp.

 _You win some, you lose some,_ Roman consoled himself. She turned to him with a look between disgust and confusion.

"It's a, um, a prototype of the- the, uh, Atlesian... You don't want a robot?"

She pursed her lips. Her head shook.

"We... We could paint it," he suggested.

She shook her head.

"Okay, but... Wait, watch this."

He kept the embrace, but leaned forward and force the window up. It was not a suave maneuver. Nor was his shout.

"Perry! Perry, make it do the dance!"

"Sir?"

"The dance! The one you practiced!"

One of the masked faunus scratched his head and argued with the pilot. Neo faintly heard, "I don't care if you didn't practice, just do something."

The mecha lurched and swayed a few times, then attempted a foxtrot, which quickly devolved into pelvic thrusts.

She could tell, by Roman's heart rate, that he was mortified. She pulled the blinds and released them to cut off the sight. She hadn't realized that the room was relying on external light. There, in the darkness, hidden from society, from monsters, from prying eyes, they both had a sudden focus applied to their closeness.

Suddenly, it wasn't just flirting. Their senses had been reduced to feeling, to the feeling of being bound by happiness to another person. Roman could think of no other pleasure than seeing her eyes light up when his presents delighted her. And she could think of none other than Roman's coy smile when things went his way.

"There is going to be that brief period," he whispered, "where there's no money. People are going to be hungry and scared. I stockpiled weapons, dust, water, and food. We'll have what we need and enough to trade. We have dead drops on routes from here to any other city we choose in the moment."

She turned in his embrace, so her cheek was against his heart. With one hand, she gripped his. The other, she wrapped around him.

"I'm a Cynic and you're no fool about fate," he answered.

She gripped him tighter.

"I know I ask a lot of you," he sighed, "but I need one last favor."

She looked up. In the darkness, she saw the candles inside his eyes.

"There's going to be chaos. And I need you to survive."

She gripped him tighter.


	10. Sunflower

**SlugSLing requested Ren and Yang, which was pretty difficult to grasp. This was a bit of a challenge. Not sure if I've accomplished it here. Feel free to give feedback, because I'm open to retrying these.**

* * *

Lie Ren and Yang Xiao Long had long sought passion to kindle their flames. Before all of their friends, it seemed they finally had. They breathed each other's air, felt the tingle of soft hairs as their noses touched and slid past. Their lips parted.

"OH, WAIT!" Nora screamed, "I forgot to say my line!"

Weiss threw down her script and covered her face. She took a moment to fume before gesturing at center stage and shouting stage left.

"No, you didn't, Nora! And this is the third time you've interrupted the most pivotal scene!"

Weiss turned on her heel and held out her hands as she glared into the lighting booth. At the rear of the school auditorium, up in a high, dark shadow, Ozpin pressed the intercom.

"Don't let frustration get the best of you, Ms. Schnee. This is still the best rendition of Third Crusade the school has ever seen. Please, continue."

He released the button, and added, "At least, I've never enjoyed one this much."

At his side, Glynda, Qrow, and Ironwood all muted their chuckles.

Weiss huffed and held up her arms for her actors.

"Okay! One more time! Countess Tabby-" she pointed to Ren- "You are with child!"

Ren held his hands against the rippling, masculine chest of Yang's costume.

"Oh, Ragnar. Your powerful display has left me weak, and finally I have no weight on my tongue. Let me confess! I am with your child!"

Yang wrapped one arm around the Countess, and twirled her mustache with the other.

"I would grant my lineage to no other," she grunted.

Ren swooned.

"Ragnar, I am honored. But let us commemorate this moment. Give me a memory of you, that I will be forever warm."

Yang moaned, "Oh, Tabby."

Ren moaned, "Oh, Ragnar."

They held each other. Their gazes locked. Their auras sparkled as they pressed together, and the parting of their lips bloomed that glow. Weiss leaned in as they did, her mouth just as agape, the moment seizing her with the magic of acting.

Belladonna sighed loudly in the front row.

Pyrrha sat up from the floor.

"Blake! That's rude!"

Weiss, furious, threw down her hand. She remembered she'd already tossed the script, so she knelt to pick it up and throw it down again.

"PYRRHA!" she shrieked.

Ruby leaned over her friend to whisper, "You gotta block out the audience."

Weiss screamed, "Pyrrha, you're supposed to be dead! Lay back down!"

"Sorry," Pyrrha whimpered, and dropped from her shoulders to her back again.

"And Ruby! You're a tree! Trees don't talk!"

"Sorry," Ruby mumbled.

"And Blake!"

She rounded on the emo faunus, who was already retaliating.

"It's patronizing! Countess Tabby has an actual title and is actual royalty! She doesn't need a human to marry her! She needs to exert her _own_ will!"

She emphasized the point by slamming a fist into her hand.

"Oh, gee, how did I know you'd find a way to make this political," Weiss snarked.

"It's a political play! And it's _dated_! This is tribal, racially motivated propaganda! That's the whole reason it was written! Don't you know about the Vytal Compact that took place before the signing of the treaty? Everything that happened at the table was predetermined in a secret meeting of-"

"-you just wish you were Countess Tabby," Weiss retorted.

Blake, enraged, only managed, "How dare you?"

"What? I only meant so you could kiss Yang!"

"Weiss!" Yang shouted.

Nora, stage left, wiggled in excitement. Weiss rounded on Yang.

"What, Yang? Really, what? Because I'm pretty sure the whole school already knows Blake's not a Fan of the Man. And you keep encouraging her. It's only a matter of time until-"

"-Can we rehearse our play?" Ren interjected.

In the lighting booth, Ironwood handed money to Qrow.

Glynda pawed down her scroll and crossed out the word Eclipse.

Ozpin sipped his coffee with the utmost delight.

Blake threw a gesture at Ren.

"Oh, but nobody's going to accuse _him_ of wanting to kiss Yang?!"

"Yeah!" Nora added.

"The show must go on," Ren noted.

"Exactly!" Weiss shrieked.

"Can I go get some water?" Pyrrha shied.

"NO! Pyrrha, you're dead! You can't just come back to life in the middle of the show!"

"Okay."

"Do you think she'll notice if one of the trees goes missing?" Ruby whispered.

"I know where there's water," Penny whispered back, "I can get us some if you cover for me."

She winked. Ruby nodded in agreement and scooted over to block her. Penny-Tree shuffled off stage-right behind the curtains.

Blake threw up her arms and stormed out. Weiss offered only a dismissive gesture.

"Finally. Okay. Starting with Tabby: Ragnar, I am honored."

Ren pressed his hands into Yang's chest.

"Ragnar, I am honored. But let us commemorate this moment. Give me a memory of you, that I will forever be warm."

Yang moaned, "Oh, Ren."

Ren moaned, "Oh, Yang."

"W-What?" Yang blushed.

Ren slapped his forehead.

"Oh, darn. I said- well, to be fair, you confused me."

Yang leaned in to suggest, "Did I, now?"

In the lighting booth, Glynda crossed out the word FlowerPower.

Ozpin handed money to Ironwood.

Qrow drank.

In the front row, Mercury fed himself popcorn and nudged Emerald's arm.

"Yeah, I saw," she hissed back.

"Will we ever get to my monologue?" Cinder groaned from her throne.

Weiss growled, "Not until we get this kiss right. Ren, stop adjusting your ears."

"They itch."

"I don't care! Now kiss Yang!"

In the lighting booth, four scrolls rumbled at once. They all received the same message. Ozpin squinted.

"Why would someone sabotage the water tower?"

Yang grabbed Lie Ren's head and pulled him to her.

"Say that line again about warmth," she whispered.

Lie Ren stammered. Nora lunged to stop them. Their faces closed, and their lips parted, and the doors burst open, a torrent of water carrying Blake on stage and deluging the cast.


	11. Jaded

**NarutoShippings requested Jaded. Fun fact: I was going to write a comedy called "Lazy Days" about how team CMEN spent all their spare time, including their DnD campaign. This is a collection of scenes salvaged from that.**

* * *

Vale before Fall was muggy. No amount of climate control could keep the dorms truly comfortable. This posed an incredible problem for Cinder's lackeys. Emerald and Mercury had spent the last two weeks holed up in this room awaiting orders. Visiting the warehouse was a rare treat. And sneaking away to murder Tukson was a guilty pleasure.

Emerald sighed and tore her shirt off. They'd stripped to the minimum and spent the last hour lying in their beds, and yet the sweating continued.

"Okay. First time," she asked.

Mercury smiled.

"Petunia. I met her on the road, on one of dad's missions. She was from a poor family. No nice clothes or anything, not out in the wild. But I remember she had this cute birthmark over half her face. Shy, but brave. I wonder what she's up to."

"What?"

Emerald turned a confused look his way.

"I wonder what she's up to," he repeated.

"But you killed her?"

"What?" Mercury turned his confused look to her.

"She was your first kill, right?"

"Oh," Mercury realized, "Oh. No. Hah. No that was a pig. The first person was a White Fang lieutenant. You?"

"Tukson," she admitted.

"No way. I thought you didn't even know him. When?"

"When?"

"Yeah."

"You were there with me," she sneered.

"What?"

"Merc, you were there when we killed him, remember?"

"No, I mean your first _time_ ," he suggested.

Emerald sighed and turned away from him. Mercury took this excellent opportunity to ogle her silhouette. Emerald was a Mistral girl. She knew the value of wrapped-cloth undergarments. The beads of sweat on her skin made her tanned skin sparkle in the light between the window blinds.

"I've had my fair share," she lied.

Mercury laughed like a bark.

"You're a virgin!"

Emerald threw a pillow at him. He only laughed harder.

"Come on, seriously?" he chuckled.

"Whatever," she growled.

"No tragic back story? No drunkle? No young love?"

"Eugh."

"So are you a lefty or a righty?"

She answered with her left.

Minutes, hours, or days later, they were exercising. Just short of naked, sweat pouring, towels soaking. On the pushup round, Emerald saw Mercury glance her way and accelerate. She upped the bet, and the competition was on. Her arms burned. She tried to hide that she was offsetting the work onto her aura. At three-hundred push-ups, she realized Mercury must have as well.

Minutes, hours, days.

Resting became teasing, which became another battle. Mercury flicked his aura across the room, tickling her skin. She sent a splash back. This became a close quarters battle of wills. They were standing at the room's center, forcing their auras at each other in a no-contact sparring match. Contact was all they thought about.

Minutes or hours passed.

The battle had raged with a quiet intensity until the only aura either had left was what had been stuffed into them by the other. They both lay back against their beds, panting, trembling.

"I always thought it was just a facade," Emerald noted, "but you really let it all go."

"Anger isn't healthy," Mercury nodded.

She expected him to return a judgment, commentary or a coy smile. He was thankfully quiet. Was it respect? She knew there was a piece of her inside him, tickling his senses and making itself known. And he was Mercury; He had to have an opinion. They lay on their beds to rest.

Minutes passed.

"Okay," Mercury sighed, "There's way too much sexual tension in this room. I'm gonna yank it."

He rolled to face away from her. Emerald was stunned, but saw instantly that he was right.

"Yeah. Me too," she murmured.

Mercury rolled back.

"Hey, if we're both-"

"-No."

"We both know what you're gonna think about," he grinned.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking about," she chided.

Their eyes met for a very, very long time.


	12. Domestic Abuse

**Masterix requested a CardinxVelvet (Domestic Abuse) romantic ship because of severe problems in their head. Here you go you sick, sick weirdo.**

* * *

"Look, I'm just going to say this outright," Cardin announced. His team was expecting a motivational speech. They weren't expecting this.

"We suck," he admitted.

No answer. Russel Thrush shifted uncomfortably. Dove Bronzewing looked away from the harsh words, then back when he was ready. Sky Lark had recognized Cardin's pained expression. He had yet to look up from the floor. They were sat on reversed chairs, circled around the room, with heads not hanging so high.

"I mean, last semester, we were pounding on Jaune Arc. Now we're the laughing stock of the school, barely hanging on academically, nowhere near the top teams in combat, and Jaune is pounding Pyrrha on the daily! We're... I mean, come on, we aren't even dateable! You know why? No one likes us!"

Sky Lark leaned in to ask, "Who cares?"

"Yeah, we'll just get better and it won't matter," Bronzewing shrugged.

"I overheard Pyrrha say she's single," Russel added.

"Whatever! It doesn't matter," Cardin retorted.

"You sure? This is the fifth time you've talked about Jaune today," Russel pointed.

"It's not about being better than Jaune, guys! It's about team Cardinal being better than what team Cardinal is right now. Because right now, we suck! Bad! And we _do_ need to care about who likes us. You think teams are good on their own? They get better by helping each other and learning from each other. CFVY learned to fight by sparring with FYRE. JNPR studies with RWBY. Who do we work with? Nobody. And until that changes, we can't get better."

"So-"

"-So shut up and listen, Bronzewing. I'm giving you all three assignments. First, go make friends with another student who doesn't already know we're jerks. You have a week. Second, go make friends with somebody who did know us when we were jerks. You guys have a month. And third, get girlfriends."

Dove Bronzewing raised his hand.

"Or boyfriends," Cardin added.

Bronzewing kept his hand raised. Cardin sighed.

"What?"

"Okay, for starters, I'm not gay," Bronzewing grumbled.

"Really?" Russel chirped.

They all looked at the posters of male models beside Bronzewing's bed.

"Really," he nodded, "and secondly, when people talk about why they don't like us, they talk about you, Cardin. I mean, you're the leader. Nobody's going to trust us until you find a way to make amends publicly."

Cardin nodded at the point. He thought through an answer. In that silence, Russel leaned to Sky and whispered, "seriously, though, what's with the posters?"

"Alright," Cardin nodded, "You guys are right. It's time I lead by example. I'm going to do everything I can to turn our image around. I just want to know that you've all got my back."

They put their hands in the center, made eye contact, and all nodded.

Two weeks later, he was face-to-face with Velvet Scarlatina, arms outstretched with flowers. She smiled. Then she laughed. Then she laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Cardin didn't dare to move. It wasn't in his nature to run.

"Um," he tried, "Could you..."

Her shrill giggles hurt more than his arms.

"Could, could you take the flowers?"

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Coco! Coco, come here! You have to see this!"

She waited for the team leader to join them. Coco stopped by jutting out her hip and pulling down her shades to smirk at Cardin's tuxedo.

"Oh... My... God," she drawled.

"Say it again," Velvet laughed, gesturing him on.

Cardin shifted his weight into a more authoritative stance.

"Velvet," he said through a puffed up chest, "I want to make amends. And I was hoping we could go to the dance together."

Coco laughed. Everyone in the hallway laughed. She turned and shouted at an open door.

"Hey, Fox! Fox, come here! You gotta hear this!"

Next period, he sat in Professor Oobleck's class and actually opened his scroll to take notes. Everyone was staring at him- Professor Oobleck, even. To his left, Jaune had the relaxed look of a man in charge. He was copying something from the whiteboard, but glanced to Cardin and said, "Hey, man, I heard you've started making amends. Glad to hear it."

"Uh... Thanks," Cardin grumbled back.

He tried writing in his notebook. He couldn't help but see that Jaune was slightly faster at writing. His fury at that was irrational, he knew. He reminded himself that, with practice, he would match his peers in all skills. And he forced all but practice from his mind. Then he heard snickering.

He promised himself he would cast no more than a glance. But there he saw Ruby Rose whispering to Blake Belladonna. Ruby was the one snickering. Blake, though silent, was watching him with the same incredulous smile Velvet had worn. Beside her was Weiss, who leaned over to read what Blake was scribbling in her notebook, and then smirked across the seats at Cardin.

That night, he entered his dorm feeling nothing but pain and determination. Dove Bronzewing was in the bathroom, examining his muscles in the mirror. He compared his bicep to one of his models, flexing repeatedly. Russel Thresh was staring intently at a poetry book.

"Where's Sky?" Cardin asked.

"Date," Bronzewing grunted.

"Whoa."

"Right?"

Russel threw down his pencil, frustrated, and gripped his head.

"WHAT RHYMES WITH PUPLE?!"

The next day, Cardin paced down the hallways in a tuxedo, with a bouquet twice the size of the previous.

"Should we stop him?" Ruby wondered aloud.

"We could follow him," Weiss suggested.

"The first time was funny," Blake admitted, "But this will be sad."

He didn't let their words deter him. He was only stopped when Coco stepped out from behind a locker to block his path. She pulled down her shades. There was no smirk, no critic's eye burning his clothes. She glared at him like a marksman.

"What are you doing, Cardin?"

He gripped the flowers to his chest.

"I'm asking your teammate to go to the dance with me," he asserted.

"Why?"

"Because I like Velvet, and I want her to know I'm sorry."

"How about you go like somebody else?" Coco suggested.

Cardin shuffled his feet. He hadn't considered that.

"I... Uh... I mean..."

Coco waggled her head, mimicking his stutter in parody, "Uh uh uh. Nuh-uh, Sweetie. Go put the Lilacs in one vase and the Tulips in the other. They don't go together. And they don't go near Velvet."

Cardin looked down at his flowers. He'd thought paying extra to have someone else sort them was just a scam.

"Uh."

"Yeah, you already said that. Maybe come up with some better lines for your other date, too. What, did you think this kindergarten? 'Here's a flower I got on daddy's credit card, my parents can drive us to the school dance.' Come on, Cardin. You're an asshole, and no one wants to spend time with you. A handful of flowers isn't going to fix that."

"I'm not like that anymore," he insisted.

She gestured at the flowers.

"Then why'd you think a bribe would make Velvet want you?"

Her point was made. There was no grasping for words after that. She scoffed at his silence, and left him in that hallway.

Cardin lay down in his bed and glared at the ceiling.

"Why do we have two vases?" Bronzewing noticed.

Sky Lark was flipping through a romance novel. Without looking up, he answered, "Because Lilacs and Tulips don't go together."

He flipped a page and scribbled a note in the margins. Cardin, realizing, sat up and looked at him.

"You already have a girlfriend."

"Yeah."

"How?"

Without realizing it, he'd called a team meeting. Everyone gathered around and waited for the Grand Master of love to share his knowledge.

There was no third bouquet... But there was a third attempt. Cardin Winchester strolled down the hall in a tuxedo. He had a single flower. Velvet was at the end of the hall, explaining something to her gathered friends. Winchester vectored and held his courage tight. He was stopped only when a mob of the foreign students left one of their orientations en mass. He was face to face with a tanned girl from Haven academy. She looked down into his hands, then at his tux, then into his eyes. There was a look of realization, then of smug mirth.

"Hey, Merc," she called, "Isn't this that guy from the video you showed me?"

Merc was a silver haired student from Haven. He stepped to her side and squinted at Cardin.

"You know what, Emerald? It is. Tsk. Oooh, man, are you trying to woo that faunus girl _again_?"

"Yes," Cardin asserted.

Another girl from Haven joined them. A nametag sticker over her uniform breast read, "Fall." She had a look of sorrow at the flower, then grinned at Cardin.

"Can I give you some advice?" she cooed.

He thought about it.

"I would appreciate that," he decided.

Cinder placed a hand against the flower, and crushed it against his chest. Her lips curled in cruel satisfaction.

"Don't," she ordered.

They left him, bumping both shoulders as they passed. He stuffed the ruined flower in his pocket. He would not be dissuaded by bullying. As a force of will, he scooted his way (politely, without shoulder bumping) through the crowd. And there he found himself, suddenly, face to face with team CFVY.

"Oh great," Coco hissed.

She pulled her glasses off entirely, and waved them as she tossed all care to the wind. Fox laughed at Cardin, one chuckle, like a drum beat, and followed Coco as she left. Yatsuhashi placed a hand on Velvet's shoulder.

"No, it's fine," she dismissed him.

Before he left, he spent a long time staring into Cardin's soul. There was an understanding between them. Velvet sighed, and planted a hand on her hip.

"Well? Go ahead," she gestured.

Cardin ignored the flash of a camera behind him, the quiet murmur of the crowd, Nora's whispered, "Can I break his legs yet?"

"Velvet," he started.

But she had less patience than she'd anticipated.

"Do you remember pulling on my ears while I asked you to stop? How about all of those racist remarks you keep making about me being a faunus? Did those just slip your mind?"

"No. That's why I'm here."

He reached for the flower in his pocket. He remembered that wasn't an option. Velvet made a vague gesture with her whole body, a question, like asking, "And what could you accomplish here?"

He took a knee.

"I-"

"You're an asshole," she said in the cutest accent anyone had ever heard.

The general murmur of the crowd agreed. Cardin nodded.

"I was, yes."

"No, you _are_. If you expect me to just forgive you for what you've done, you're an asshole."

"I don't," he admitted.

"Then why are you here?"

"Because an apology is the first step to being a better man."

"Oh, you want me to make you a better man?" she sneered.

"No. But I think you deserve a better man than I've been."

No comeback. She scoffed, stalling for time. The crowd was silent.

"Forget about the dance," Cardin whispered, "but let me make up to you what a jerk I've been."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

Here, he applied the wisdom of Sky "Lady Killer" Lark.

The full extent of that failure was expressed an hour later, in the foreign students' quarters, when Emerald Sustrai sat down to watch random internet videos. She found one titled "Flashmob proposal at Beacon."

She laughed long and hard.

It was two weeks later that Cardin next saw Velvet. The dance had come and gone. He'd selected no other date, and had failed to woo mere friendship out of a study buddy. But he had a study buddy now. His contact with Velvet was a literal bump, her error.

"Oh," they both said.

"Sorry," Cardin offered.

"No, I..." Velvet didn't finish.

Cardin turned to leave. She called out.

"Wait, Cardin. I have a question."

Cardin stopped. Though it pained him, he turned and addressed her.

"Why did you do all of that? You know, two weeks ago."

She gestured over her shoulder, at the past. Cardin shrugged.

"Look, I was just looking for my dorm keys. Sorry I stopped in the hallway."

"I'm serious," she insisted.

He sighed. He looked for an answer less embarrassing than the truth, but she'd literally caught him in a hallway.

"I... Uh... I like you," he admitted, "And I like you... A lot. So I... You know, did all of that."

He didn't move. He'd played his cards, so he knew he might as well see how the hand went. It was only then that he looked her in the eyes, and saw the bags under them. She was exhausted. Coco rounded the corner and joined them. Though her glasses were up, the pale complexion revealed that she was just as spent.

"Come on, this again-" she started.

But Velvet waved her down.

"It's my fault. I bumped into him."

Then, to Cardin: "Look, Cardin. I appreciate the gesture. And I believe you're sincere. And I'm sorry if you've had a lot of embarrassment recently. I mean, it's not my fault, but I sympathize. Just... I don't have any need for a boyfriend."

"Nobody needs a boyfriend," Coco grunted.

"Thank you, Coco," Velvet said, meaning, "I literally could not be less grateful for your commentary."

"Any time," Coco answered, meaning, "I will never do this for you again."

Coco swiped her keycard in the dorm door. But she stopped without entering. She wavered, her balance thrown off by tiredness. Seeing her in profile, Cardin could tell that her eyes were dancing behind her shades.

"Your dad was a chef, right?" she remembered, "and your mom was a masseuse?"

Cardin squared his shoulders to her, caught off-guard.

"How did you know that?"

"You had an interest in my teammate. So I had an interest in you."

Cardin had no answer. Coco continued, "You cook?"

"Y-yeah, sometimes," Cardin nodded.

"And you can give a mean massage, or are those just for show?"

She gestured at his biceps.

"Uh... Yeah, I guess," he mumbled.

Coco thought again, then walked back to Velvet's side, and wrapped an arm over her friend's shoulder.

"See, Velvet," she said, "no one needs a boyfriend."

Cardin's ego found its nadir in that moment.

Coco finished, "But everyone needs a slave. Your call."

She patted her friend as she left, and Velvet considered the thought with a slowly growing look of mischief.

This was the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship.


	13. Sunflower Reboot

**This is the redo of YangxRen.**

* * *

Yang Xiao Long felt a nudge against her shoulder. She'd been dreaming of cabbages, a sure sign that she was attending one of Port's lectures. Her eyes slipped open to see him pacing and waving one arm in story. At her right was Blake Belladonna and a warm smile. She handed a slip of paper to Yang, who unfolded it to read, "do you like me?"

Yang rolled an expression across her eyebrows that said, "duh?"

Blake started a second note. Port continued his story.

"He was a Huntsman's Huntsman, my great grand-father, and he decided that day that he would die a Huntsman's death. Thus began the tradition of Death by Grimm. You may have learned in your Aural Mastery classes that aura, in certain states, draws the attention of Grimm."

Blake crumpled her note and started a third one. Port continued.

"So he traveled far away from civilization and spent seventeen days battling an entire swarm. This is the reason that you will find my Grandfather's statue in the village of Odessa. And this is the one, true, origin of the Huntsman's Suicide. He wrote in his memoirs that any other death is a waste of a man. And as Huntsmen, we live and die for humanity."

He ended his story there, then added, "... And faunus kind."

Blake crumpled the second note, then uncrumpled it on a second thought. She sheepishly handed it to Yang.

"Do you like me the way Ren likes Nora, or the way Nora likes Ren?"

Yang held out her hand for Blake to hold. Blake blushed. She reached, but Yang felt no contact. Sharp pain stung her fingertips. A dull ache coursed up her arm and filled her whole body. She looked down. She had no arm. She looked up. Blake was gone.

Yang Xiao Long woke alone.

They told her it had been a day. Ruby wasn't waking up. Her mother hadn't come to check on her. Weiss was tucked away in Atlas. Blake was last spotted in a White Fang uniform. There was excitement of a dour kind hovering in everyone she talked to. When their auras met hers, she felt their motivation. But she couldn't join them in that enthusiasm.

They told her it had been a week. She blinked. Qrow was talking to her like he was handling a bomb. Her father showed her a mirror. She blinked at the void arm. She looked up, and blinked again at her eyes, crimson like her bandage.

"But... I don't... _Feel_ angry. I don't feel... Anything."

They told her it had been a month. She looked out the window and saw snow. She felt tired. Ruby wanted to bother her again. She wanted to get up, but she didn't want anyone to get excited about it. It wasn't worth a single, side-ways comment. More than hunger, thirst, or a desire to stretch, she needed to be alone.

Out the window, she saw Ren and Nora practicing together. They both met eyes with her. They both continued practicing. She mustered the energy to join them, but days had passed when she arrived. She was standing alone, barefoot in the snow. Wind rustled her tank top and shorts. It all felt like a boring scene in one of Port's stories. She couldn't feel herself there. She could feel her arm. She closed her eyes and decided to carry on. She hoped that the cold would hurt her, because she wanted to feel, and the cold was the only feeling she could bear.

So she mimicked the motions she'd seen on Ren. She tried to follow his grace and keep her balance. The first thing she realized about the kata was that she couldn't punch in any of these stances. There was no launching point for a full-bodied, aura-torqued haymaker. Every position kept her aura centered and balled. Her limbs were never reliant on each other, but they couldn't work together. She felt light, like a Raven soaring on the air, or a cat leaping over rooftops.

Her hope had been wrong. The cold was not a pain she could bear. She cried, her eyes pried, and she saw Ren standing by and watching.

"It's midnight," he murmured.

"So why are you dressed?" she retorted. Tears had frozen to her face.

"I couldn't sleep," he lied.

She sat in the snow. She wiped at her face with the wrong arm, then with the left.

"Sorry I didn't practice with you guys. I was going to, but I just... I got distracted."

She looked up, to see if he was still there.

"We'll practice again tomorrow," he offered.

She nodded.

Getting up was a long and difficult process, like struggling through water. She stood and squinted into sunlight, then squinted at Nora's beaming smile.

"Look who's on her feeeee-eeeeeeeet!" she sang.

Yang had a blurry memory of her father helping her dress. She scowled to her side and saw a crowd assembled there: Jaune, Ruby, Qrow, Tai, Zwei. Qrow shoed them all on with their day.

"Okay, show's over. I think we can give her some room. Gotta chop firewood."

Yang corrected her scowl to something mellower. Tai lingered with a crying smile, but let her alone.

Yang turned back to her group and met a smiling Nora. Nora turned to Ren.

"Alright, mister, I made you the best pancakes you've ever had today, so we're gonna do something fun, right? Right?"

"Hmm," Ren thought.

He decided, "Let's meditate."

He sat, and spread himself into the lotus position. Nora sighed, forcing joy into the expression.

"Yay, meditating."

She sat, and Yang followed.

"It's a valuable practice, Nora," Ren explained, "because it allows us to handle our auras and our emotions. Warriors and leaders alike have used meditation to strengthen and heal themselves for all of human history. We will start with a simple breathing exercise."

"Is this supposed to fix my arm and bring back my team?" Yang blurted.

Distantly, she realized she was being rude. Nora wasn't meditating anymore. Her lips were pursed, and she glanced from Yang to Ren to intervente. Ren was meditating. He practiced a breath and answered, "No."

"Will it make me feel better?"

"Unlikely."

Yang felt Nora's eyes and worry cast her way. She rethought her participation. She wanted to be in her room. She didn't want to go through the motions of getting there.

"Ren," Nora whispered.

"Yes, Nora?"

"Ren, Meditating is boring. Let's punch things today!"

Ren sighed. But it was a long, controlled sigh. Ren was simply ending his meditation.

"Okay," he relented.

Nora kept Yang there with her enthusiasm, and with her assurance that Ren could made things explode by punching them.

"That's not true, Nora," he countered.

"Ten of them! In a row!"

"It was a single King Taijitu," he explained.

"Both heads!"

"One head."

"It exploded?" Yang interrupted.

"A living ball of fire that scorched the very clouds!"

"A little," Ren allowed.

"Can you show me?"

Yang gestured at a boulder in the forest. It had served as her childhood battleground with Ruby. It meant nothing to her now. Ren had more reticence.

"It's a dangerous technique," he explained.

"Awww," Nora moaned.

"But... If it makes you happy," he said to Yang.

Nora's cheer of joy halted as she jumped.

"YYYYYYYYee- yeah..."

She watched the interaction between Ren and Yang. He was holding her eyes, waiting for her answer. Yang shrugged, then nodded.

"Yeah," she admitted.

"Okay, wait here," he instructed.

The rock was a good thirty meters away. He took a martial stance beside it, closed his eyes, and did exactly what Nora had described. The shrapnel landed at Yang's feet. The shock-wave rocked her bedroom window in its sill, and the sound brought Taiyang running around to their side of the house. Ren bowed to the defeated rock, breathed free of the exertion, and returned to them with the utmost calm and poise. As he came closer, Yang realized that he was everything she aspired to be. And in that moment, she aspired.

Nora had not greeted him with her usual outburst of joy. She didn't congratulate him. She didn't interrupt his approaching Yang.

"Yang?" he murmured.

When Yang answered, she realized that her mouth had been just short of a smile.

"Teach me that," she said.

For three days, she hung on his every word. Getting out of bed took her seconds. She followed his every motion, erring only once, painfully.

"You aren't supposed to hit it with your hand," Ren explained.

"OW! Now you tell me?"

"Hit it with your aura."

"Why am I swinging my fist, then?"

"For fun," he smiled.

Fun was the last justification she had expected from Ren. She leaned against the rock, panting, still staring at him.

"I've got a question," she started.

Her heartbeat was a pain reminding her of life. She had the same rush of adrenaline she'd always been seeking. She was getting what she wanted. Despite this, she did not feel better. For what she was doing, she felt worse.

"Go ahead," Ren nodded.

"You and Nora... Y'know?"

"We're friends," he said flatly.

"Is that how Nora feels?"

Ren thought, and spent a good minute staring into the snow.

Finally, he asked, "Who are we talking about?"

Yang stepped closer, into Ren's space. Her heart lost rhythm. She felt lightheaded. Every bad feeling felt distant. Despite the snow, she was warm. She searched his eyes, and saw that Ren was caught too far off-guard to react.

"Uh..." he tried.

She leaned her face into his. Ren's eyes went wide, but he didn't retract. He didn't speak. His breath smelled like syrup and parsley.

"Wait."

Ren placed a hand on her shoulder. He didn't push her away.

"Belladonna," he said.

That word had a sharp pain at the end, and a dull ache throughout, like a missing limb. Only, she didn't want it back.

"That's over."

She'd imagined saying it flatly, in the same level tone Ren had used. It came out forceful. Ren tilted an eyebrow at her.

"No one gets to walk out on my hardships and waltz in for the sunshine! She can't just leave me when I need her and expect me to still need her when she comes back! I'm growing up and moving on without her, Ren! I-"

She felt warm. She saw the flames rising from her knuckles- from her right knuckles. The same flames that danced along her hair and her skin were traversing the imagined shape of her arm. Tears burned through her eyes.

She remembered in that moment what she'd told Qrow, that she felt nothing. She couldn't explain why her eyes were stained red. She'd meant there was nothing to feel. She understood now that she had been numb, and that the feelings were resuming like a waking limb.

The knots inside her unwound in that moment. She heard the silence where a mother's voice should be, felt the null haptics where Blake's lips should have graced hers, and understood that every motion in her life had been hers alone, unassisted. These voids were one, a mercurial darkness struggling to escape her chest.

She did not feel Ren's hand against her. She felt her arm. She felt Blake and her mother's love. The heat of a star was burning her, its corona brimming on her skin.

"Breathe," Ren reminded her.

She hugged him.

She wept.

Tai told her that she'd been in her room for three days. She stared at his voice, on the other side of the door. Her blinds were down with the sun, and no moon illuminated the snow. Despite that perfect darkness, she could see every item in her room. Hues of red traced silhouettes and glowed in the toys she had most cherished as a child.

Intuition told her it was aura. She was seeing what Grimm see, the faint traces of human attention and care in every floorboard and stuffed bear. Tai said that there were leftovers of dinner. He told her that he loved her and that he'd be there if she needed him. She felt like she was drowning, and he was asking her to reach higher.

The snow outside melted wherever she stepped. The coastal wind steamed on her skin. She sat in the lotus position, as Ren had shown her. She tried to breathe at his pace, calm and deliberate. She ignored the rustle of leaves, the squawk of a raven, and the forces of nature conspiring about winter. She felt the small dust vein a hundred feet below the property, the good luck vein that made Patch just rich enough to settle and just poor enough to not mine.

She felt another aura moving her way and shivering. Nora stopped at ten paces, when Yang cast crimson eyes at her. Nora hadn't spoken yet, but she was lying, and it was hurting her.

"Nice night, huh?" her teeth rattled.

Yang didn't answer. She wanted to make a welcoming motion, but gesturing at snow didn't seem right. Nora knelt across from her.

"So, I, uh... I saw , I mean, your dad told me... That you uh..."

She grimaced through a smile.

"You like Ren, huh?" she said.

Yang didn't meet her eyes.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"I understand that," Nora smiled again.

"He's pretty great," Yang acknowledged.

"I... I mean, Ren and I... We're not..."

Yang scooted closer to Nora and offered her a hug. Nora wrapped both arms around Yang, and they were silent.

"They told me I have to tell you that I'm not mad or anything."

"It's not their business," Yang corrected.

"I know. And... Well, the truth is, I'm not mad or anything," Nora smiled. Her tears landed on Yang's back, fizzled, and became steam.

"Do you have a fever?" Nora worried.

"I don't know," Yang mumbled.

"The point is... I care about you, Yang. And... Whatever you have to do... To get back into action..."

"I'm sorry, Nora."

"It's okay."

"It's not. I'm not okay."

They left her in that house. She watched through her window as team RNJR set out on their first adventure. Qrow followed them shortly after. He'd left Yang with a joke, "Hey. Don't go running out ahead of me and tell them they're being followed, okay?"

She couldn't quite laugh, but the bleakness of that humor was a rare acknowledgment of her condition. She smiled.

"Okay, Uncle Qrow."

He winked as he left. The days with her father were long and slow. He'd convinced her to leave her room for chores. Someone had to help him keep the place together and warm. Without the CCT, there was no news to discuss. Tai hadn't learned any new jokes in the year she'd been to Beacon. They had one nice night, sitting on the cliff's edge beside Summer's grave.

"Your mother's eyes weren't always red," he'd mumbled.

Yang gave him the expectant look instead of the obvious question.

"I can't remember," he mumbled, "but the point is, I don't want you to forget yours."

He wrapped an arm around her.

She meditated in her spare time, in distant places. She thought of Ren's advice, and all of the few things he'd taught her. She breathed, and imagined the scent of his breath. She practiced the katas that balanced her aura and kept her controlled. She learned that the advantage in these stances was flow. She was learning the arts Neopolitan had used to toss her like a rag doll. She had a vague image in her mind of aura as a stream instead of a brick.

Mid thought, she decided that this distant place was as good as any other to die. She remembered her aural states, and set to work summoning the Grimm that would free her.

It was only a moment later that she felt a sudden presence, and looked up into crimson eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Yang hissed.

"You called me," Raven monotoned.

"No, I didn't."

Raven hummed, "Okay," as she sat.

They had a lot to talk about, and no desire to talk. Raven's silence, like her absence, was just another pain.

"Go away," Yang said.

"I came a long way to see what you need, Yang. At least tell me what it is."

"Nothing you can give me!" Yang shouted.

"Are you upset about that faunus girl?"

"No!"

"She's convinced the White Fang that she's one of them again. They're not very clever, though."

"I don't care!"

"Is it about that green boy that left last week?"

"How-"

"You've been calling out to me for several months. I wanted to understand why."

"Then you should have just said hi!" she shrieked.

"I did, just now. And you told me to leave."

"So leave!"

"And what? Let you die here like a Huntsman's Huntsman? You're too young to kill yourself, Yang. Too much potential."

"You don't get to decide that for me!"

"I'm your mother."

"I! Don't! Care!"

She was panting. She was crying, and everything hurt.

Raven let her echo fade, and whispered, "your eyes are solid red. You're turning out just like me."

Yang cared. She leaped to her feet and charged, screaming. Raven sidestepped the strike, and flipped her daughter head over heels by her inertia. Yang landed with a thud against her back, her arm twisted and hyper-extended.

She struggled to look at her mother. Their shared moment was one of sorrow. Yang regretted her life. Raven regretted her part in that tragedy. She struck at Yang's elbow, snapping it backwards. The scream was long and loud. It did not end with the pain of her arm breaking. It did not end. Raven released her, and Yang rolled hard, forcing her arm back into function. She slid upright into a half-ready stance. She charged again, committing herself to this strike just like every other.

She sought and found the pain of the last three months. She felt her arm. She felt Blake's betrayal. She felt the star within her. But now it was a stream.

Raven sneered. She sidestepped the only arm she expected.

Yang's aura was a flame dancing over her silhouette, over her phantom arm. Raven gasped. Yang closed her eyes. She felt the dance of her last motions within her, channeling the stream. It caught up to her suddenly, and every muscle in the void arm flexed at once as her target exploded. Excess charge cascaded along her skin like lightning. She landed and tried to control her breathing, to disperse the flow so it wouldn't destroy her. And when she opened her eyes, Raven was sprawled before her, her scarlet aura faltering.

"That's my girl," Raven sighed.

She vanished in a swarm of feathers, and took flight. Yang didn't question it. She wanted to catch Ren and show him what she'd learned. She wanted everyone to see that she... And there she realized it: She was back in the fight.


	14. Re: Ruby

**Guest and Bigtoenails and Absolute Configuration requested this. Enjoy.**

* * *

Coffee and plastic met sickly fluorescence in a room without windows. Though General Ironwood was the only soldier, everyone wore security clearances. Mr. Schnee was one of the few citizens of Atlas whose name was his rank. Both of these men sat on folding chairs, and listened intently to the presenter.

Dr. Copper had the arduous task of explaining exactly how bricked the CCT system was.

"It's bricked," he started, "FUBAR."

General Ironwood was a patient man. And Mr. Schnee had planned a speech about rebuilding the whole system from the infrastructure up. Neither man reacted.

Dr. Copper aimed his scroll at the projector, and summoned the next slide.

"This is the file structure, root at the top, for the CCT intranet relay handler. All traffic- P2P, Centralized, Decentralized, Distributed- everything relies on this system working. Think of this as the ground the messenger walks on. Now let's overlay the color red on all of the corrupted files."

He clicked to the next slide, which was simply the color red.

"So, BQV was thorough."

A hand raised.

"Black Queen Virus. We're calling it BQV," Copper explained.

The hand fell.

Mr. Schnee raised his own question, and asked it without waiting.

"What about the backup?"

"Nope," Dr. Copper countered.

"When we restore the CCT's operating system, and then turn it on, it connects to something, and anything it connects to will have BQV. So, to keep it clean, we have to quarantine every single thing that the CCT would connect to before we turn it on."

"That defeats the point of bringing it online," Ironwood grumbled.

"Exactly," Copper nodded.

Someone sighed, frustrated, in the back row.

"It gets better, don't worry," Copper pointed, "because there's a longer, but more effective, solution. Let's go back to the corrupted system files. If you imagine that the data injected by BQV is a completed jigsaw puzzle, and that the puzzle was shattered and then scattered throughout the network, you'll see there's a solution to removing it. We have to find what every piece has in common. And if we can do that... We can write our own virus that will delete BQV. We can have the entire network clean within an hour of going live. Now, don't get too excited. So far, we haven't even assembled the jigsaw puzzle. Of all the corrupted data, the only completed piece we've found is this."

Another slide. A digital picture of Ruby Rose smiling.

"Huh," someone in the back row mumbled.

That was another computer engineer named Merlot. After the meeting, he found General Ironwood's side in the hallway, and introduced himself by raising his badge, to show the code name of his clearance. He had the general's attention.  
"Go ahead," Ironwood sighed.

"Dr. Copper's wrong about BQV, Sir. If Cinder could infect the whole world from a Scroll, then why risk breaking into Vale CCT?"

"Excellent point."

"And we already know BQV wasn't meant to brick the system. That's why she summoned Kevin to destroy the tower."

"Are we really calling it that?" Ironwood sighed.

"Yes, Sir. But more importantly, Dr. Copper's overlooked that the corrupted files aren't in other towers. It wasn't some super-virus spreading through the whole world. Something sent a message from Vale directly to Atlas CCT, bypassing all input sanitation. There is another program we know about that could have done that. You may remember commissioning that program, Sir."

Ironwood remembered. He thought it through.

He asked aloud, "Of all the things to back up... Of all the final thoughts, why would Ruby Rose be the most important to Penny?"


	15. Enabler

**User Vindexian requested RubyxYang (Enabler) on the rooftop at night. Though his fetish is a mark of the degeneracy of these dark times, I am bound by honor to deliver. Special thanks to my 4 editors, all of whom were stumped with me on how to make this pairing even remotely possible. Whatever. We tried.**

* * *

Yang and Ruby sat, dangling their feet at Vale's skyline. The moon hung high over Beacon's rooftop. The occasional sound of sparring from two blocks down drifted to their ears. Otherwise, they were alone. The sweet summer breeze kept them warm, and reminded them of the coastal air from home.

"I love you, Yang."

"I love you too, Ruby."

They hugged.

"Not like a sister, though," Ruby admitted.

Her heart beat triple time, then stuttered and jumped around until she thought she would croak. Yang giggled. Ruby tried to laugh along, but snorted instead.

"Not like a sister? Like a what, then?" Yang asked.

"Like a, uh, y'know," Ruby swayed side to side and hummed a romantic song. She looked hopeful.

Yang's smile hadn't moved for a while. Her face was straining to not look disgusted or horrified.

"Like a friend?" she offered.

"Like the way that Ren and Nora are friends," Ruby explained.

She imagined this from Nora's perspective. Yang imagined it from Ren's.

"Oh, okay," Yang smiled, "Yeah, I like that, Ruby."

Yang congratulated herself on not jumping to conclusions. Ruby congratulated herself on being brave and requiting her feelings. Everything was okay. Then Ruby leaned over and kissed her sister's mouth. Everything was not okay.

"Whoa!"

Yang pushed Ruby over and scooted herself away.

"WHOA! Whoa. Okay. Whoa, hang on, eugh!"

Yang tried to wipe the sister from her tongue. Ruby tried not to cry.

"But... Didn't you say... ?"

"Well, yeah! But not like, y'know?" Yang strained.

"No?" Ruby whimpered.

"No," Yang asserted.

She sat back at her sister's side.

"Look, come here, Ruby. Let's talk."

She pulled her sister into a hug. Ruby curled into a ball, worried.

"See. Okay, look. No. For starters, you're way too young to go kissing people out of the blue like that," she explained.

"But you gave me alcohol at the party," Ruby pointed.

"And you made me regret that," Yang growled.

"Sorry."

"But that's another story. The point is, you're too young to have feelings."

"You had your first kiss with that blue guy when you were ten," Ruby noted, "and you don't regret that at all."

"Ruby, you- still, because- I mean..."

"I think you liked it," Ruby teased.

"No! No, I did not," Yang shouted.

"Oh," Ruby whimpered.

"I mean. Look, Ruby, I don't want to hurt your feelings, okay? I do love you- As a sister- and I don't want to make you-" too late. Ruby was sniffling.

Yang sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Me too," Ruby cried.

"Don't kiss people without warning them, okay?"

"'Kay."

* * *

"Happy valentines day!"

Yang presented an armful of boxes, one for each teammate. She handed one to Weiss with a casual smile, another to Blake while they both blushed, and the third, with trepidation, to Ruby. Weiss opened her box and sighed.

"Really, Yang? Really?"

She scoffed, and tried to hide a smile behind casual dismissal.

"You love it," Yang grinned.

Blake opened her box and nearly cried. She did not reveal what was inside. She covered her chest while she teared up over a smile, then hugged Yang with the utmost affection.

Ruby was the last to open her gift. Since her scolding from Tai, she had made a habit of unwrapping gifts without tearing the paper. She gasped and screamed, "Oh my God! Yang, thank you, thank you so much! I could KISS you right now!"

"Don't," Yang interrupted.

"She didn't mean _literally_ ," Weiss explained.

"Calm down. She's your sister," Blake smiled.

Ruby jumped into Yang's arms and kissed her. Through her lips, Yang shouted, "RWBY WHT MPHMB SAY BGHT KSSNG."

Weiss and Blake smiled at the endearing gesture.

No one suspected anything.

* * *

"Because you're a girl and I'm a girl. We're both girls," Yang explained.

"But you like Blake."

"Yeah, but this thing with Blake and I- it's- I mean, I don't know what it is. You can't- you know what? We're not gonna talk about that," Yang snapped.

Ruby pressed against her chest and pushed her wide-eyed face into Yang's.

"You like girls," Ruby whispered.

"Okay, you know what?"

Yang pushed her away, but held her there, at arm's length.

"You know what it is, Ruby? You wanna know why you can't kiss me?"

Ruby tickled her arm suggestively, and smirked, "You're scared the temptation will drive you mad?"

"You're my SIS-TER!" Yang shouted.

She heard her voice echo down the hallway, and tried to return the conversation to something quieter. She whispered, "You're my sister. We're related."

"Half-sisters," Ruby pointed, "and the only thing I got from Tai was Libido."

Yang sputtered, "Libi- Where did you? You know what? I don't wanna know."

She stopped herself. Ruby was right about that part, the family secret. Tai had pulled them both aside one day to explain how birth control works, and how sometimes it doesn't work.

"Anyway, my point is," he'd said, "no matter how much you'll want to, don't mess around with guys, like, at all."

They'd taken that to heart. Yang was staring at her sister, seeing now that their private plights were the same, though hidden differently. She still hadn't answered. Ruby tickled her chin.

"Come oooooooon," she purred.

"No, Ruby," Yang blurted.

"I really like you though, and you really like me. I'm not saying we should... You know... _Date_ or anything," she said, testing waters that were trying to pitch her.

"Good. Because we're not gonna date," Yang hissed, "because I don-"

Their faces had drawn closer to whisper. It took Ruby only a slight shift to brush their lips together. Yang's breath halted. She bit back her lip to stop herself from indiscretion. And in that moment of restraint, Ruby pressed Yang against the dorm room door and slid her keycard through the scanner.

Yang pushed the handle down behind her, opening the door and letting Ruby push her with a single finger between her breasts. She told herself that this argument should be private. They passed into the room, but did not turn on the lights. Ruby closed the door with her back, and used the physical lock to ensure their privacy. Yang swallowed.

"Uh... Look, Ruby," she she wavered.

Ruby nodded as she approached.

"Yeah?"

Her eyes dilated with all the wonder and joy she'd ever hoped for. Her head tilted back to meet her sister's extra height. She stood on tip-toes to come close to her.

"This is bad," Yang whispered.

"This is good," Ruby promised her.

Ruby dragged Yang's bottom lip down with her own, sharing the moisture and her breath. She looked into her sister's eyes, waiting plaintively for them to open. Yang swallowed again. When she did finally ready herself, when her eyelids flashed, her irises were a fiery crimson.

"You're being a brat," she growled.

Ruby shivered in excitement. She leaned into their next kiss.

The door chimed, opened, and stopped with a crash against the physical lock. Weiss grunted, then squeezed her mouth against the gap.

"Yang! YANG! You two need to find a better place to do this! Someday it's gonna be Ruby walking in on you! And I'm getting sick and tired of this door being locked!"

They heard, faintly, down the hallway, as Blake called, "Weiss?"

"Blake?"

"Oh no," Yang swooned. She pushed Ruby away.

"Nonononono," she mumbled.

Ruby cackled maniacally.

No one suspected anything.

* * *

"Do you think they'll get back soon?" Ruby whispered.

Yang's heart pounded in her chest. Her sister's little body was pressed flat against her. They were breathing hard, and Ruby's soft touch was the only thing holding Yang's claustrophobia at bay. The more she squirmed, the more she became aware of the closet's confines.

"Hey," Ruby whispered, muffled.

Yang looked down into her chest, where Ruby had buried her face.

"What, Ruby?"

"These are nice."

"Ruby, don't. Okay? It's bad enough that you got us locked in the closet. But really, I cannot deal with you turning this into-"

"-That was an accident. Just so we're clear, sis-"

"-No, I know. Just... Get your face out of my boobs, okay?"

Ruby looked up in the darkness. They saw the sparkle of each others' eyes.

"I could tickle you like this," Ruby realized.

"I could snap your neck," Yang noted.

Ruby smiled, a devious look spreading over an already blushed face.

"What did you think I was gonna do?" she asked.

"What?"

"You thought I'd turn this... Into us kissing again?"

"I don't wanna talk about it, Ruby."

Yang could not hide the nervous note in her voice. Ruby recognized the first sign of breaking in her sister. She'd persuaded the cookie-jar guardian to give her extra on many occasions. She could tell, pressed against her chest, that Yang was getting warmer. Ruby pressed her lips against Yang's breast and blew a raspberry.

"Ruby! Really? No."

"I'd do this if we were straight, though. They're so comfy."

"Well we're not! So get your face out of my-"

"Yang?" Blake called from the room.

"Finally," Yang hissed.

"We're stuck!" Ruby shouted.

Weiss quipped, "You can come out of the closet, Yang!"

Yang growled, "Unlock the door!"

"Whatever," Weiss huffed.

Ruby and Yang fell onto the floor together, panting, out of breath, red faced and chested. No one suspected anything.

* * *

"Remember when we got locked in the closet?"

Ruby was pacing, remembering. Yang was sitting. She sighed.

"Yes, Ruby, I remember the closet."

"Well, being stuck in this elevator kinda reminds me of that."

Yang sighed again.

"There's no excuse if you try to touch my boobs this time."

Ruby stopped her pacing. She thought, _who mentioned boobs?_ And then it struck her.

" _I_ wasn't the one who broke elevator. _You_ said I should push the big, red button!"

She turned the accusation on Yang and pointed.

"I said, 'whatever.' I didn't think you'd actually do it."

"And _I_ wasn't the one who got us stuck in the closet, was I? _You_ tricked me into closing that door while it was locked."

"Ruby, this is ridiculous."

"Oh really? Then why are you wearing my special rose blossom earrings today? You only borrow those when you want to impress somebody!"

The non-sequitur confounded Yang.

Her arms spread, and she shouted, "What?!"

Ruby pointed as if sentencing a criminal, "Don't try to deny it! You're trying to seduce me, Yang!"

Yang scoffed.

"Maybe I'm trying to seduce somebody else! Did you ever think about that? Like maybe the date I'm on my way to right now? You know, the one I just told you about, right before you broke the elevator?!"

"Oh. Right," Ruby remembered.

She about-faced to pace, but stopped. Another realization caught her.

"Wait!"

She rounded on Yang again, who could no longer hide the truth.

"Blake already told me that she's staying in the room all night to study! So she can't have plans with you, because you aren't going on a date with her at all! Which means-"

"Ruby," Yang sighed.

"Yang Xiao Long! You ARE trying to seduce me!"

"I'm taking you on a date, Ruby," Yang sighed.

"You... What?"

"Look, I don't want to, you know, do anything like... Like _that_ with you. But I I thought you'd like going to a dance. It was supposed to be a surprise, when we got there. Look, it doesn't matter anymore, okay? We're spending the night in an elevator!"

The elevator jerked back to life, descended ten feet and opened on the ground floor. Ruby pursed her lips to hide a smile. She gripped the hem of her skirt and swayed side to side.

"So..." She chimed nervously, "I'd still like to do that."

Yang mustered her positivity. She stood, smoothed her dress, and wrapped an arm around Ruby.

"Brat," she smiled.


	16. War by Other Means

**I've gotten a lot of straight-up bad requests from you lot, so we're starting this chapter with a quote from my main man, Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company. "If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'a faster horse.'"**

 **Also, I need feedback. Leave a review naming the best chapter and the worst chapter.**

* * *

Pyrrha Nikkos, the girl who evoked all hope and pride in Mistral, entered the library at Beacon academy. This auspicious moment was met with excited fanfare from Nora Valkyrie, who had zero recognition beyond "that pink girl that yells a lot."

"This is so exciting, though, Pyrrha! You're finally gonna do it!"

"Nora, it's not going to be a surprise if you shout it everywhere we go," Pyrrha scolded.

"Oh come on, Pyrrha. Jaune never goes to the library unless we drag him there. But you actually bought tickets! To the concert! He'll love it! And I'm so proud of you for actually taking the steps!"

"Still..."

Pyrrha let the objection trail off. She had come to the library for a piece of that proposal that was a bit more private. She hadn't thought of how to shake Nora. And she wanted her friend to stick around afterwards.

"Do you mind waiting here while I... ?"

"Okay," Nora chimed. She leaned in to whisper, "I might get distracted, though."

Pyrrha giggled and promised to be quick. She walked slowly into the History section, broke line-of-sight, and dashed to Sexuality.

Nora lasted three seconds. She heard an excited shout.

"Oh my GOSH! How CUTE!"

Her head swiveled. She saw a puppy. Her eyes bulged. The girl beside it was an affectionate Mistral student with the name tag "Emerald." Emerald's enthusiasm was like a bear trap on her heart.

Cinder Fall took that opportunity to approach unnoticed. Pyrrha felt the shadow covering her. She checked her shoulder and saw the Haven Academy uniform. She gave no second thought until high-heels stopped beside her. That was her first cautious thought. The shoes weren't regulation. The rules could have changed in the year she was gone, but not enough to accommodate the utter eroticism of these.

She looked up the leg, to the skirt pulled higher than it should be. She looked up again to a bust tagged "Cinder." And finally, she looked up to meet the eyes of a predator. Cinder was leaning over her, a hand resting on the shelf, her form off-balance and contorted to turn heads.

Pyrrha stood in Cinder's shadow, finding her full height, despite the uncomfortable closeness that brought them.

"Can I help you?" she started.

They were nose to nose. Cinder smiled, a simple but comforting gesture.

"No. But I think I can help you."

She slid a tome from beside Pyrrha's head as if pulling a coin from behind her ear, and pressed it into Pyrrha's hands. There was no data slot on the spine, and no title on the reinforced hardback. This was an old copy of an old work. Pyrrha kept her eyes locked with Cinder, wary of the stranger, until she had the cover open.

The title page read: _The Whore of Nations._ The author had painstakingly drawn a full-body vector portrait of a woman Pyrrha envied in a pose she did not. While she was looking at that page, Cinder's finger had slipped under it, and then flipped it over to reveal the first sentence.

"Sexuality," she read aloud, "is warfare by other means."

"Oh," Pyrrha nodded.

She added, straining, "Thank you. But... This isn't the book I was looking for."

"Don't you want to impress that blonde boy?"

It was a safe, but sad, assumption that paparazzi had noted her infatuation with Jaune before Jaune had. The tilt in Cinder's head suggested innocence or a friendly question. Pyrrha was not foolish enough to believe that illusion.

"That's... Not your business," she answered.

She closed the book, folding it so one hand stopped it from falling and the other kept it from jumping. Cinder placed her own hand over Pyrrha's. It was then that all illusions shattered. They both had their auras raised for combat. Both sparkled and snapped when their skin met. This was no tourist. Cinder, Pyrrha knew, was a combatant in the tournament. And this was starting to look like a pre-game skirmish.

"I was reluctant to read it too," Cinder cooed, "when my friend gave it to me. I thought it was just an angry woman's rant against the world."

Her eyes were low, on the contact between their hands.

"I had a crush. But he didn't he didn't even know I existed. And the woman with this book stole him from me."

She lowered her aura, and raised her eyes to Pyrrha's. They burned like molten gold.

"I'm... Sorry to hear that," Pyrrha offered.

She was straining to not escalate the situation, and to not show fear. She tried to move her hand, which Cinder gripped.

"I think I understand," Cinder explained.

"It's the curse of fame, isn't it? If you can win his love, you'll know that you're more than just your reputation."

"No, I don't think you understand," Pyrrha growled.

The sensation was unfamiliar in her throat. She tried to steady her heart against the adrenaline trickling into her blood.

"I want to know that he loves me for who I am, instead of for fame. And this book," she eyed it with disgust. Cinder added her other hand to the other end, and their struggle became a quiet, intense wrestle.

"It has a really _cynical_ view on love. It treats people like _pawns_ to be compelled by emotions made with lies and illusions. I don't want that. I want to have a relationship of cooperation towards a common goal: Happiness, together."

Cinder was exerting enough force to keep Pyrrha's hands pinned. She had the steady look of a lady savoring tea.

"Have you even read it?"

"No," Pyrrha admitted.

"Ohhhh," Cinder purred, "Then let me tell you what society wont. The Whore of Nations was born into the Second Crusade, and she ended that war with her wiles."

"She also _started_ the Third Crusade," Pyrrha grunted.

"You know your history," Cinder cooed.

"Like I said. This isn't the book I'm looking for."

She was frowning, intensity matching her effort to move Cinder's hand. Her opponent leaned closer to whisper, "Does he know that you love him?"

"I don't know you. And I don't want to talk about this with a stranger. Let me go."

Cinder released her hands, but not her eyes. Those stayed with her. Even as she backed away on unsteady feet, retreating from an isle she wasn't done with, she kept looking at the molten flows orbiting Cinder's pupils. Her heart kept beating that day as if they were boring into her from across the room. And when the light flicked off in her room that night, she could still see the smile reflecting their glow.

That moment faded. It wasn't worth mentioning to her teammates. It left her the moment Jaune pulled out a tuxedo and asked, "Hey, Pyrrha? Do you know how to put this on?"

Dressing Jaune consumed her for an hour. Team JNPR made a group project out of choosing his colors and brushing his hair and making him the prettiest man alive. Pyrrha smiled more that day than she had ever before. And the suggestive glances from Nora kept making her blush. They even had a private moment when Jaune was fiddling with his tie in the bathroom. Nora leaned over to whisper, "Now would be a perfect time."

Pyrrha fanned her face, and they giggled together.

"Huh. Dad said it was pristine when he sent it," Jaune mumbled from the bathroom.

"Oh no," Pyrrha worried, "Did it get damaged in the mail?"

Jaune groaned, "No. Probably while I was unpacking it at the beginning of the semester."

"Wait, what?!" Nora shouted.

Pyrrha put a hand on either hip.

"Jaune. How long have you had this tuxedo?"

"Dad bought me one a few months ago, since it's cheaper than renting one for every dance."

"But how come we're only seeing it now?" she asked.

"Because I've got a date," he smiled.

There was no immediate reaction. Entropy turned Pyrrha's smile to a flat emotion that wouldn't commit. She approached Jaune to pick a thread from his back, and a hair from his shoulder. She didn't meet his eyes. Nora only gaped. She turned to Ren, who shrugged and hid in a book.

"Oh," Pyrrha finally acknowledged.

"Yup," Jaune beamed with pride, "all by myself. I guess dad's advice paid off."

"C-congratulations," Pyrrha stammered.

Nora put a hand on Pyrrha, and offered with a smile, "Is she in the competition?"

"I didn't ask. Besides, guys, come on. That won't matter on the stage," Jaune assured them.

"As long as it's not a problem," Ren mumbled from the other room.

Jaune flashed a smile and nod into the mirror, imitating Neptune. He then proceeded to knot his tie in the most ugly and difficult to repair way imaginable.

Pyrrha pushed his hands aside to fix it, burying her sorrows in the task of preening him, feeling the pain of preening him for someone else.

"So... What's she like? How did you meet her?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune nodded sideways.

"Well, she's kinda clumsy."

 _She pretended to trip into you, didn't she, Jaune?_

"Kinda cute, too."

 _You're only saying that because she smiled a lot and laughed at your jokes._

"She likes my jaw."

Pyrrha glanced up from the tie to admire it. She smiled, but found there was a sharp pain in that act.

"So she asked if I was single, and I said yeah. And then she asked what I was doing tonight. And I said nothing. And then she asked if I could afford tickets for her and I to go to the Vytal concert. And I said, 'why am I buying your ticket?' And she said, 'because it's a date.'"

Jaune beamed at his accomplishment.

"What's her name?" Nora asked aloud.

She whispered, "So we can kill her," to Pyrrha.

"Cinder," Jaune smiled.

"OW!" he added, when Pyrrha made sure his tie was tight enough.

"Pyrrha? You okay?"

"There's something in my eye," she snapped.

She pushed him out of the bathroom, and Nora was wise enough to leave on her own. The door slammed and locked behind them. Jaune's scroll rumbled in his pocket.

"Uh oh. Don't wanna be late," he noted.

He reached into his backpack and smoothed out a crumpled flower.

"Wish me luck," he said over his shoulder.

He left too quickly to know that Nora and Ren were silent, or to hear Pyrrha sobbing.

The golden eyes taunted her in her sleep. Mid conversation with Jaune, he would stop her to check his latest text from Cinder.

"She says to say hi to you guys," he'd smile.

And Pyrrha liked seeing him smile. She wanted to be the source of his happiness. She wanted to tell him what was happening. But she couldn't without revealing her bias. She wanted him to snap out of his stupor.

Better yet, as Nora whispered, "We know where she sleeps."

It was time for a confrontation. Pyrrha was expecting to walk into a room full of bullies and lay down the law, or maybe expose what their teammate had been up to. It wouldn't be the first group of bullies she'd sorted.

Her knock on the door was authoritative. She put all thoughts but righteous anger from her mind. She focused. The door opened part way, and a voice cooed, "let yourself in."

She pushed through to find Cinder.

Instead of her uniform, she wore a towel. Water steamed from her skin, and every other surface in the room. The shower was left running. Cinder had her back turned, but said over an exposed shoulder, "don't let the heat out."

Pyrrha left the door open.

"You'll ruin the paint. Just because these aren't your dorms doesn't mean you can treat them with disrespect."

Cinder didn't argue. She removed the towel from her head and released a long, black wave of silk. The static electricity from her aura wrung it out in one beautiful motion. It was a trick Pyrrha had never thought to attempt.

Cinder finally acknowledged her aggressive stance.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

"I can see that you're upset," Cinder smirked.

Pyrrha had practiced this confrontation. She said, as she had into the mirror, "Stop leading my teammate on."

Curt, forceful, and not overly rude.

"Is that a demand?" Cinder smirked.

"Yes," Pyrrha decided.

"And how do you plan to enforce it?"

"I..."

There was no plan.

"I don't understand," she lied.

Cinder sat in a chair beside her nightstand. She pressed a button on her scroll, then returned her attention to Pyrrha.

"I refuse your demand. How will you punish me?"

"I... I won't. I'm telling you that-"

"You're here to beg," Cinder cooed.

Her molten eyes swirled with glee. Their hue reflected on her perfect teeth.

"He doesn't have a future with you," Pyrrha pointed.

"Oh?" Cinder stood and approached, testing Pyrrha's resolve.

She stopped long past the boundary of personal space. She breathed easily against Pyrrha's skin, the pure image of control. She whispered, "I think we should let Jaune decide that."

"Pyrrha?"

He was behind her. She was shocked. And there was a change in Cinder, as well. The predator's demeanor melted into giggly happiness. That facade, she revealed to Jaune.

"Oh, Jaune! You came! I'm so happy! I thought you would be busy studying."

"No! No, I... Pyrrha, why are you here?"

She couldn't cover her emotions as well as Cinder. She stood no chance at deceit here. She turned and said, "There are some things I think we should all talk about, Jaune."

Cinder gasped, drawing Jaune's eyes to her lips, then down her towel as she bent over to admire the hole in his jeans.

"Jaune, you can't wear these shabby things! We should fix that! Here, I have a sowing kit. Let's get you out of those."

She reached for his belt buckle with a look that he must have mistaken for innocence.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted.

"Uh..." His head turned away from Cinder. His eyes lagged behind.

"Uh... Yeah? Pyrrha?"

The towel dropped over Cinder's shoulders, and she gasped again, and giggled, "Oops. Oh my. Um, Jaune, could you... Cover my modesty for a moment? I'm really sorry about this, Pyrrha, but I need to get dressed. Could you wait outside?"

Jaune outdid himself offering ways to cover her. His eyes were distracted. And he couldn't see as the predator's smirk returned, cast over his shoulder. Pyrrha had felt an overwhelming confidence about her body. But Cinder moved in ways she had never practiced. Pyrrha's body was a temple to athleticism. Cinder's was an altar to lust.

"Pyrrha? Come on, she's almost naked here. Some privacy please?"

Jaune, the White Knight blinded by his own visor, gestured for her to leave them. She couldn't move. He helped her, picking her up by the arms and setting her in the hallway. Her last sight before closing the door was of Cinder, wearing only the menacing smirk of the Whore of Nations, her finger crossing an X over her heart.


	17. Boop

**Here's something we can all agree on.**

* * *

Nora Valkyrie was bored.

"Zwei, do you have a last name?" she asked aloud.

Zwei barked.

"Is it Rose or Xiao Long?"

Zwei barked three times and ran in two clockwise circles. Nora had noticed the complexities of his answers. She wondered now if it was communication or coincidence. She decided boredom was making her crazy. She huffed and laid back on Yang's bed.

"Dog sitting is no fun inside," she decided.

Zwei rolled left and held up his right hind leg. He added a whimpering growl that sounded like a dog's attempt at the anthem of the defunct state of Mantle.

"Yeah, good point," Nora pretended to understand.

Zwei cocked his head.

"I don't actually know what you're trying to say," Nora admitted.

Zwei whimpered and sat.

"Well, it's decided then," Nora decided, on the spot.

Zwei's ears raised.

"Let's go for a walk!"

Zwei leaped to his stubby legs, tail wagging so hard he had to wiggle instead of walking. Nora opened the door, and their adventure began.

They played with a disk in the school courtyard. Nora enjoyed this more than Zwei. She got a little excited and they didn't have a disk anymore. Zwei was forgiving.

They visited the Vytal Fairgrounds and ate cotton candy together. Zwei brought Nora a box of chocolates. She didn't see how he'd procured them, and there was no clear place to return them, so she ate fast.

They lay on their backs in the sun while they recuperated from stomach aches.

It wasn't until the afternoon that Nora brought Zwei to a park overlooking the docks below Beacon.

"Okay, now, I'm only telling you this because you're a dog," Nora explained.

She planted a shovel in soft dirt, then checked her shoulders.

"We're clear. Here I go."

She started shoveling.

"Now, most people think this park just has nice soil. But I'm pretty sure it's magic."

Zwei listened attentively.

"You stand guard while I talk, okay? We don't want anybody to see us digging here," Nora whispered.

Zwei turned and stood guard.

"So the park was built on magic land. A good maiden with unnatural powers blessed it to... Uh..."

She dug a few more shovelfuls before she admitted, "I don't remember the story. The point is, there's gold."

Zwei barked, then hid in a bush. Nora ducked in to cover with him, then crawled out, remembering the shovel, and brought it into the bush. Zwei had seen an Elysian Knight. It walked past the hole without a second glance. Nora patted Zwei's head.

"Good dog. And smart, too."

Zwei walked back to his post, resuming his guard. An hour of digging later, Nora had a crime scene and no gold. She sat against the tree and decided that she should have packed a lunch. While she rested, Zwei jumped into the hole and kept digging with his paws.

"You know what, Zwei?"

He paused to answer, "Arf," then resumed digging.

"It's hard to have a friend for so long when you love them and they just want to be your friend."

Zwei stopped digging and offered his sympathies with a whine and a warm nuzzling. He crawled up into her lap and licked her hands.

"I'm not giving up or anything. It's just... I like Ren a lot. I've never known a time he wasn't by my side. I'll always be by his. Until he doesn't need me, I guess. But there's also the fact that I'd jump at the chance for us to be more than just friends."

Zwei made a grumbling noise that sounded like an attempt at talking.

"No, I've told him. He knows. And we're working through that. He didn't really have an answer one way or the other. And he's right. Even if we wanted to date now, we have too many obligations. I just wanted to talk to someone about it. And by that I mean somebody who won't, you know... Tell anyone else."

Zwei panted, wearing the perpetual dog smile. Nora shined her perpetual Nora smile in response.

"You're a great buddy too, Zwei."

She hugged him.

"Arf!"

Zwei agreed. But he wriggled out of her hands and resumed digging. Nora stood to get her shovel, but Zwei barked and pulled something from the dirt.

"Gold!" she shouted.

"Arf!"

Zwei agreed.

Nora knelt down to inspect it. And though she was excited, temperance and critical thinking won out.

"It's fools gold," she announced.

"Arf! Arf!" Zwei protested, which meant "Pyrite, while common, has a distinct flavor as an iron sulfide, a rock type which I assure you I am familiar with, young woman. This is most definitely a noble mineral. And though I am colorblind, I have a significant olfactory advantage for determining that this is, in fact, pure gold."

But Nora didn't understand that, so she patted him on the head and said, "oh well. It was a fun adventure. Here, let's bury this again so we don't get in trouble."

She set to work shoveling her dirt back into the hole while Zwei barked and jumped and said things like "This is insanity, woman! What madness compels you?!"

She laughed and pet him affectionately.

"Don't worry, Zwei! It's not about the end. It's about the journey! Besides, maybe we'll find real gold next time. Here, we'll go get you a treat-" Zwei stopped barking and sat at attention- "on our way back to the dorm."

That night, team RWBY entered their dorm with an exciting day of shopping behind them. Ruby shushed her teammates as they entered, and everyone posed for a picture around Nora and Zwei, who had curled up to sleep in a pillow fort on the floor.


	18. Monochrome

**The Dark One and Roukaryu requested Monochrome Dreams. It isn't quite as good as Bumblebee, but at least it isn't Enabler. Read and review.**

* * *

Weiss Schnee interrupted her team's walk by jumping ahead and addressing everyone.

"Okay, now, Ruby, I think you should knock on the door and be at the front of the group."

Ruby recognized Weiss' social anxiety manifesting as bossiness. In these situations, she'd learned to say, "okay," instead of "Why?"

Weiss nodded and turned to Blake, who interrupted, "Let me guess... The back?"

"You never smile!" Weiss strained.

"They invited us to hang out and chill," Blake said, "It's not a networking event."

"Everything is a networking event," Weiss huffed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna _network_ a lot with Fox tonight," Yang chided.

"Look, guys, this is the first time another team has invited us to their room! And they're way older than us, and they're way cooler than you guys!"

Weiss held her hands out, clasped together in pleading.

"Just... Don't mess it up, okay?"

They stopped at the door. Ruby shrugged.

"Weiss, come on, what's the worst thing that can happen?"

She knocked.

From inside, Coco shouted, "It's unlocked!"

Ruby slapped the keypad and the door slid open, releasing a cloud of white smoke. Ruby sniffed the air and mumbled, "Yatsuhashi's incense smells weird."

Team RWBY's expressions all swapped when they realized what it was. Yang wore Ruby's childlike happiness, Weiss took on Blake's distant disapproval, and Blake smiled with Yang's comfort.

They had to push through a hanging bead door as they entered, but the room was welcoming and spacious inside. Fox and Coco were reclining on a plush beanbag bed, watching videos on a scroll in Fox's lap. Yatsuhashi flipped through a comic book. Velvet sat cross legged in front of a screen and mashed her lithe fingers on a controller.

Coco's scroll sat idle on a shelf, connected by jury rigged copper wiring to a makeshift speaker system around the room. Electronica screeched and Bass reverberated in everyone's chests.

The pairing off was quick and instinctual. The burning herb returned Blake to the good days in the White Fang, sitting under the stars with a fire for heat and a fire for smoke. She'd run from that life, and she'd spared no words cursing it, but there had been moments when the revolutionaries let their guards down and enjoyed each other's company. And those moments, she missed them so much it hurt.

Yatsuhashi saw that in her eyes, and the grateful smile she tossed his way said the rest. He nodded and grinned back.

Weiss found herself standing awkwardly next to Velvet. She was analyzing the girl's game, the way her fingers moved on the controller, the way her tongue poked out when she concentrated. It was rude to stare, but it was ruder to interrupt, so Weiss knelt beside her, legs folded politely under her combat skirt.

The choice was forced. She had misjudged her friend Blake. She had misjudged all faunus. And with no basis in reality to approach faunus kind from, she was left only with exposure. So she sat beside Velvet and waited to see what would happen.

Velvet glanced to her side and smiled apologetically.

"Oh my goodness," she realized, "I didn't notice anyone had entered."

She paused the game and covered her blush.

Weiss almost answered, "I thought faunus could..."

She hesitated, and chose, "Oh. We... Um... Yes."

Velvet offered a second controller.

"Would you like to play?"

Weiss answered, "Yes... I think," before thinking.

The game started while she was looking at the buttons. She looked up at the screen, which had split into two.

"You're getting hit," Velvet noted.

Weiss saw lots of sparkles and swishes and swords, but couldn't make sense of them.

She asked, "What do I do?"

And the night carried on from there. For two hours, Blake relaxed with Yatsuhashi and remembered from a safe distance her days in the wild. Weiss sat on edge for the first twenty minutes, carefully choosing her strategy, timing her maneuvers, and playing just as Velvet was. It was at the end of that twenty minutes that she realized she and Velvet were playing completely different games. And for once, she relaxed, and she focused on the screen, and she felt as if Velvet were simply another human.

Ruby sat in a chair in the room's center and dangled her feet. She wondered if there would be cookies. There were not.

Yang reclined on the beanbag beside Fox to watch the movie in his lap, brushing their arms, leaning her breasts to him, letting her hair dangle. Coco was sipping beer and criticizing the acting, oblivious to their flirting.

"Look, this is the worst scene," she grumbled.

Mouthing along with the actor, she quoted, "I didn't realize a huntress could be so... Ravashing."

Weiss set down her controller, and excused herself from the game. Her instincts to work the party had finally overpowered her. Coco seemed the most interactive, so she hopped onto the beanbag, looked at the movie, and froze in utter terror.

Her mind simply refused to accept what she was watching. Playing a videogame with Velvet had been a way to dip her toe in the pond. Now she was thrust into equality like some kidnapped princess being ravaged by boors.

"Is this... ?" she croaked.

Coco turned her head to ask, "huh?" but kept watching.

"This is... _Pornography_ ," Weiss whispered.

"Yeah," Coco tilted her beer to drink.

Weiss continued, "And that girl... She's... I don't think she's really a huntress. I mean... _I_ would never..."

She stopped herself. In her mind was the anxious chibi-self shouting, "Don't say 'with a faunus!' She'll think you're racist!"

Weiss stuttered, "U-u-um, her outfit is... _Pretty_."

Coco's turned to the younger girl, a slight swagger and sway in her head from the alcohol. She pulled her glasses low over her nose as if to ask, "are you serious right now?"

The actress on screen moaned, "Mmmmm, your fur is so coarse!"

"This is where I come in," Fox pointed.

And that was when he entered the scene to say, "Is there room for three?"

Coco leaned in, excited, and nudged him.

"Nice abs, Champ."

Weiss stood up and looked away. She looked back at the screen. She looked to Yang for help, and saw her leaning in to watch. Weiss looked away again.

"Uh... Excuse me," was how she excused herself.

She promised herself that she would simply not speak of that event again. Everyone else seemed okay with it, Ruby was too innocent to bother about it, and Blake... What would she say to Blake?

"I saw a faunus having sex with a human and that's gross?"

Blake, Weiss told herself, would find a way to make it political, when it was really just about the natural order of things.

Two weeks passed before she broke.

"Okay! Blake? We need to talk," she blurted.

Weiss was seated on her bed. Blake was seated across the room from her.

"Weiss... We _are_ talking. We've _been_ talking."

"Okay, well I can't handle it anymore, okay? I've been trying not to make a scene, but- you know what? I don't have to be quiet about this. It was gross!"

Blake had a textbook in her lap. She closed it and set it aside.

She asked, "Whaaaaaaaaat are we talking about?"

"Okay, look," Weiss snapped, "there was a thing on the net, okay? It had... There were these... And I don't mean to be racist, but I can't understand why anyone would, you know... But, I mean, _do_ you know? And that's why I don't want to bring it up, but I can't not anymore!"

Blake tried to piece it together. She shook her head and asked, "what?"

"Fine!" Weiss huffed, "Nevermind. Forget I said anything."

The next outburst was at the park. Weiss and Ruby were looking for fresh air at the same time as Yatsuhashi and Velvet. The conversation started normally. Ruby and Yatsuhashi had great fun seeing how high they could send Ruby with aura-assisted jumps. Velvet and Weiss were not so indulgent, and both stood at a safe distance as Ruby's "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Dopplered into the clouds.

"Velvet," Weiss asked, "Are faunus attracted to humans?"

Velvet pursed her lips and held back her adrenaline. Her parents had warned her that she would meet people who would smile and nod and act civil, but who were really just waiting for her to get down on all fours and act like an animal. She'd been told by all of her role models that she had the burden of proving the place of a faunus in society.

"Weiss... When you think of faunus and humans..."

BOOM.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Let me put it this way, Weiss: What is the difference between you and Ruby?"

She kept her smile sincere. And Weiss thought about it sincerely.

"Well... Ruby is impulsive, childish, creative, and enthusiastic. But I'm cautious, tempered, calculating, and strict."

"Okay," Velvet nodded, "but what's the difference between you and Blake?"

"Well, obviously, she's a faunus, and I'm a human," Weiss blurted.

Velvet didn't answer immediately. She waited, and watched as Weiss' expression changed, as she realized the lesson.

"Weiss, I don't know how much you know about faunus, but... Well... You have a teammate who-"

"Yeah, but I can't talk to Blake about this kind of thing! She'll get mad and yell at me and I'll yell at her and we'll be arguing again!"

"Oh. Well... You do come on a bit strong sometimes."

Weiss retracted. She had a long, quiet moment of deep thought.

"Sorry," she finally said.

That night, as Ruby and Yang headed out to walk Zwei, Weiss mustered her courage and sat next to Blake.

"Uh oh," Blake guessed.

"No, no, I don't want to have an outburst, Blake. I just..."

Weiss was staring at the floor. She looked up and sought Blake's eyes.

"We're friends, right, Blake?"

Blake nodded, "I can't judge you by the circumstances of your birth. Especially after you've looked past mine. I guess we just have to see each other for who we are."

Weiss didn't want to show it, but the depth of that acknowledgment of her agency woke a limb neglected by her family. She reached into Blake's lap and held her hand.

"Thank you, Blake."

"Yeah. Of course. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad to see I was wrong about the Schnees."

"And I'm glad I was wrong about the faunus," Weiss agreed, "although Sun is still a degenerate bum."

Blake looked for a second as if she would take offense. Then she nodded and whispered, "Yeah, actually."

"Did something happen?"

"He took me on a date and, well, 'forgot' his wallet."

"That brute!"

"Yeah," Blake nodded.

She refocused and looked Weiss in the eyes.

"But you were saying something."

"I just... There's something that's been bothering me. When we went to team Coffee's room, Fox and Coco were watching a video."

"Oh," Blake realized.

Weiss nodded, "And there was-"

Blake shook her head.

"Say no more, Weiss."

"You find it gross, too?"

"Very," Blake agreed.

Weiss sighed with relief.

"Oh good. I thought I was the only one."

"Yeah. I don't understand why an aspiring huntsman would ever star in something like that. Not to mention the huntress. It really undermines the image people have of us."

"Oh," Weiss realized.

"What?"

"You meant... Well yes, that's very bad, what you said, those things."

Blake nodded, "yeah. Did you mean something else?"

It took her another second to connect the dots and sigh. Their hands were still holding each other, which made this very awkward for Weiss. Blake kept the contact for its own sake. She reminded herself that Weiss was her friend who simply didn't understand.

"Weiss," she started.

"Yes, Blake?"

"I don't care what your... Preferences are. That's yours to have."

"My... I mean, this isn't about my preferences. This is just the-"

The mini-Weiss on her shoulder screamed, "Don't say 'the natural order of things!' She'll think you're a racist!"

"This is just..."

Blake interrupted before Weiss could say anything truly stupid.

"I understand it can be a little shocking, especially since... Well, I won't pretend we do things the same way."

"You don't?" Weiss blurted.

Blake avoided her gaze.

"Oh boy," she whispered.

Weiss wisely detected the end of her tolerance, and patted Blake's hand.

"You know what, Blake? I think that was enough for me, for today."

"Okay," Blake agreed.

Weiss stood and walked to her bed, then thought again and asked, "But... Another time... Could we... Could we talk about this more?"

Blake lifted her chin to nod, then tilted her head to shake, then wobbled the expression until it only meant "I'm uncomfortable."

She said, "Yeah. Another time."

The other time was in the field. Teams RWBY and CFVY were camping together outside of Vale's walls, on a high cliff overlooking a trail of Goliaths. Weiss and Blake had guard duty, and sat beside each other, taking in the view.

"So... Is now a good time?" Weiss asked.

"Y-yeah, I guess," Blake said.  
Weiss huffed, then unloaded her feelings.

"So... I feel grossed out by it because I imagine, you know, that the girl is me. Because I'm a girl."

"Okay?"

"But when I imagine that it's me..."

Blake interrupted, "Have you tried... _Not_ imagining it?"

" _Yes_! But I keep thinking about it!"

"Oh. Well, alright. Go on."

"So I think about it, and I imagine I'm her. And in the video, there's a dog faunus, and the girl pushes him onto the bed and climbs on top of him. And she's... Well, she has a combat skirt on, like _mine_ , but black. And she lets it sit in a very compromising way. She doesn't fix it."

Blake shifted her weight on her boulder seat. Weiss continued.

"And that makes me imagine, that, well, that it's me, on top of the dog faunus. And, well, I've never met a dog faunus, but I think that their hair is probably very coarse. And that doesn't feel comfortable, because I have very soft skin. So it would prick me and be rough."

Blake made a point of staring out to the horizon. When Weiss seemed finished, she glanced over and said, "oh."

"But the girl in the video seemed to be enjoying it. And that made me think... Why? What about his ears? What about his nose? And his eyes would look funny. And, well, not to mention, when she leans in to kiss him, he bites her lips. Not hard, she doesn't bleed or anything, but he has sharp teeth."

Blake cleared her throat. Twenty meters away, Professors Oobleck lay on his cot and stared intently at the ceiling. Wordlessly, soundlessly, he turned to his right to see Professor Port on the cot beside him. Port was also awake. And looking into each others eyes, they talked without words.

"Peter, are they paying you enough to handle this?"

"Bartholomew, I don't even have the _credentials_ to handle this."

They turned back to the ceiling and never spoke of it again.

"Then there's the scene where Fox walks in," Weiss continued.

"Oh," Blake nodded.

"And while the girl is sitting on top of the dog faunus, Fox- he, well-" she made vague gestures with her hands.

"She gets squished," Weiss summarized.

Blake loosened her collar.

"And, well, I know faunus, well I don't know, actually, but I'm guessing, because I know dogs and foxes like to pile on top of each other sometimes. And, well, humans don't. But they were in this pile, breathing each other's air and rubbing and touching and sweating and growling and moaning, but there's this human girl in the middle with perfect, pale skin."

She looked at Blake, noticing that they both had that trait in common with the actress. Her gaze lingered. Blake looked away from the horizon, then scrambled her eyes elsewhere when nervous tension made her think Weiss was reading her innermost thoughts. Blake sat rigid.

"That sounds... Hard to watch," she lied.

"And I don't mean to say that faunus can't be attractive!" Weiss appended.

"No, I didn't take it that way," Blake said.

"Good. It's just. Well, it's the mixing part. I mean, I assume you wouldn't ever want to... Do anything like that, with a human. Not that a human wouldn't want to! Because, well, you're Blake."

Blake pushed her hair back behind her ear. Her body language was stuttering.

"I, thanks? I'm sure a faunus would like to... Do that... With you, too."

"Well of course they would," Weiss snapped.

They were quiet long enough for the conversation to disengage. Blake sighed the tension free and let the night air cool her off.

"And-" Weiss started.

"Let's talk about it more later," Blake said.

"Yeah. Okay," Weiss agreed.

Crickets and glowbugs chirped through the night, perfectly audible through the sheer tents.

To the ceiling, Coco said, "Someone's gotta tell her."

Everyone else sighed.

Later meant a month. Weiss and Blake were studying again, sitting across from each other and comparing insights as they read through bestiaries. Blake looked up and asked, "What did you mean?"

"What?"

"Before, when we were... You know, talking. You said you could understand if a human wanted to... Do things with me."

Weiss closed her book, and appeared to be picking her words very carefully.

"Well..."

They met eyes. Weiss looked away.

"I suppose I only meant that you're pretty, and you're... Well, when I think about you, I don't think, 'oh, there's a faunus. I wonder if it's a White Fang assassin and I have to fight for my life again.' I look at you and I see..."

Weiss looked at her.

"I see... Blake."

"But I literally was a White Fang assassin," Blake corrected.

Weiss looked at her hands, and wrung them together as she answered.

"That's a technicality. And besides that, you really don't have any of the traits that I... The, you know, preferences. I mean, when you put the bow on, people can hardly tell you aren't human. And, sure, you have some fur on your ears, but it looks soft."

"It is," Blake admitted.

Weiss looked up, at Blake's ears, then away.

"Oh," she said.

Blake set her book aside and walked to the door. She paused there, her back to Weiss, and made her decision by locking the deadbolt. She sat beside Weiss and swallowed hard. Weiss did not scoot over for her. She hoped, and denied that she was hoping, that they could sit brushed against each other.

Blake took Weiss' hand and lifted it to her own head.

"Feel them," she instructed.

Weiss gulped. She reached out, and her first contact with faunus fur sent a tingle through her fingers that threatened to unwind everything her family had instilled in her. Blake's ear twitched. Weiss looked down from it to her friend's eyes. The vertical pupils flexed as Blake giggled.

"Careful," she smiled, "they're sensitive."

She came to a rest from that flinch no more than a breath away from Weiss. It wasn't some foul animal smell. Blake smelled like a girl. She smiled like a girl. She leaned in and kissed like a girl.


End file.
